Borussia Monchengladbach looks to patch up leaky defence at Mainz

Berlin - Borussia Moenchengladbach coach Andre Schubert admits his side must fix its leaking defence if the team is to make a repeat appearance in the Champions League next season.

Gladbach finished bottom of its Champions League group this term, but is currently fourth in the Bundesliga table, among the European places, despite last Saturday's 3-1 defeat at home to Borussia Dortmund.

Schubert has pulled Gladbach up the table from bottom after five straight defeats at the start of the season under predecessor Lucien Favre.

But the recent horror record of 24 goals conceded in its last eight games in all competitions tells it's own tale.

The Foals need to stop the rot at mid-table Mainz on Friday night with only struggling outfit Stuttgart having leaked more goals this season in Germany's top flight.

Schubert points to missing stars, injured centre-back Alvaro Dominguez, plus the suspension of tough-tackling Swiss captain Granit Xhaka, for his team's recent poor defensive record.

"We want to attack and play offensively, and, of course, concede fewer goals, because that increases the probability of picking up points," said Schubert.

"The time is now to find solutions, so we can defend better with the players available to us without neglecting our strengths in attack."

Eighth-placed Mainz are winless in its last three games, but in Turkey international Yunus Malli, the club has a dangerous goal-scoring midfielder, who Borussia Dortmund tried to buy this January.

"Although Mainz has failed to score in their last three games, we meet a team who can be dangerous," warned Schubert.

"They are very compact, are good at switching to attack and have scored a lot of goals on the counter-attack and are physically very strong.

"Moreover, in Yunus Malli they have a high-quality attacker, who roams behind the striker, repeatedly goes deep and is a threat to goal."