Borussia Dortmund will be aiming for their fifth consecutive win in the Bundesliga with a trip to bogey team Hamburg on Saturday, with coach Jurgen Klopp hoping that Marco Reus will be fit for selection.
Since hitting rock bottom of the Bundesliga following the winter break, Dortmund have returned to winning ways, and, especially in the 3-0 Revierderby victory against Schalke last weekend, have shown the form that made them Bayern Munich's biggest domestic rivals in recent years.
Four wins from their last four league games has seen BVB move five points above the relegation zone, and at the same time close in on the qualification places for European football next season.
On Saturday, Dortmund visit struggling Hamburg, where coach Josef Zinnbauer has come under pressure with the club walking on thin line once again to avoid relegation.
They currently sit just one place and one point above the relegation zone, with media speculation building this week that coach Zinnbauer could be sacked should HSV suffer defeat against BVB.
However, Klopp's side have won one and lost four of their last five games against Hamburg, and also failed to score in their last two matches against HSV.
"We have a something to atone for in Hamburg. We unnecessarily dropped points there in recent years," Klopp told his pregame news conference on Thursday.
"They got enough points from us, and always urgently needed them. But now both teams need those points for the same reason."
The Dortmund boss will be without midfielder Nuri Sahin, who continues to struggle with an abductor problem. But Klopp has not given up hope that he will be able to play in-form forwards Reus and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
The pair have scored nine of Dortmund's 13 goals in their last four wins, and while Aubameyang took part in team training on Thursday, Reus is facing a race against time following the injury which forced him off in the German Cup win at Dynamo Dresden.
Klopp added: "The bruise is dividing itself up into all kinds of colours all over his thigh. We are doing everything so that we'll get it fixed. Every hour is critical. I can't say yet whether it will be enough for him to be ready for Saturday."