Football
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Bayer Leverkusen director Rudi Voller backs manager Roger Schmidt

Bayer Leverkusen's director of sport Rudi Voller says he continues to have total faith in his club's head coach Roger Schmidt, despite a recent dip in form.

The Werkself travel to face Eintracht Frankfurt this Saturday bidding to reverse a run of three defeats which have seen them slide away from the top four in the Bundesliga and compromised their hopes of progressing to the last 16 of the Champions League.

On Tuesday, they face BATE Borisov needing a win to have a chance of moving back ahead of Roma in their group, heading into the last round of matches, when they face Barcelona and Roma host BATE.

According to Voller, there is no reason to doubt Schmidt's ability.

"We had a great season under Schmidt last year and he proved then what a good coach he is," Voller told the Bild. "Now we've lost a few games in a row and there has been some criticism, but we've all got to live with that.

"We still have the chance of spending the winter still in the DFB Pokal, while qualifying for the last 16 of the Champions League is also still in our own hands."

Voller acknowledged, meanwhile, that their form in the Bundesliga has not been up to scratch.

"The situation in the league is more problematic and we are definitely lacking six points, for example when we have conceded too many goals from set pieces or other minor things that worked last year," he said.

"Of course we all thought we were further than we are.

"We had hoped that the quality we had would have made it easier also for the new signings to settle in."

Leverkusen are currently three points behind fourth-placed Hertha Berlin, while their hosts on Saturday are just three points behind them in 12th.

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