#INSERT type:image caption:Coach Lucien Favre has described the boycott decision as 'a real shame.' END#
Borussia Monchengladbach must try to get back to winning ways at Cologne on Saturday without the backing of many fans who will be boycotting the match.
The boycott has come about because of strict limitations on away tickets, imposed after Cologne fans invaded the pitch at the previous derby between the sides last season.
Borussia have been assigned only 3,500 tickets but were forced to send 1,800 back to their rivals when fans decided to stay away, believing they are being wrongly penalised for the actions of Cologne supporters.
In the aftermath of the pitch invasion at Borussia Park in February, the usual 10 percent allocation for travelling fans was cut to seven percent for Saturday's game, with all tickets personalised.
For the return fixture, Cologne are set to receive only five percent of the tickets, which will also be personalised.
Gladbach fans will stay away in protest on Saturday and hold a march through Monchengladbach instead.
Fans attended a training session on Thursday to explain to the players the reasons why they would be staying away from the derby.
"We have said from the beginning that we are against the boycott, but at the same time we accept the fans' vote," Gladbach CEO Stephan Schippers said at a news conference.
"We can totally understand it, since our fans reacted calm to the Cologne ultras' pitch invasion.
"We all have the same goal -- in the future we want to play sportingly explosive but fair derbies in a stadium full of atmosphere and with 10 percent of that being away fans. We don't want violence like we have seen in the past."
Club captain Tony Jantschke said the fans had "given it great consideration and explained to us how their boycott is meant," adding that their attendance at training showed their support for the struggling Foals.
"It's a real shame," coach Lucien Favre said, but stressed he believed that his players could "get ourselves out of this slump with a lot of hard work."
"I am convinced that we can beat a lot of teams," he added. "We have to correct a few things and be more solid at the back. If we do so, we'll get off the bottom of the table."
Borussia followed up four consecutive defeats in the Bundesliga with a 3-0 loss at Sevilla in Champions League in midweek, with their struggles following an impressive third-place finish last season.