Huddersfield’s Schindler believes play-offs bring ‘positive pressure’

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Huddersfield defender Christopher Schindler knows the difficult play-offs can be and is keen to embrace the pressure that comes with sides promotion push.

The German defender has only missed two Sky Bet Championship games since leaving boyhood club 1860 Munich for Yorkshire last summer.

David Wagner’s side have been the surprise package of the season and, after being in the promotion race all campaign, will take on Sheffield Wednesday in the play-off semi-finals on Sunday.

The occasion has brought back vivid memories of two seasons ago for Schindler, when 1860 Munich faced a two-legged play-off against Holstein Kiel to stay in the German second division.

He said: “Having positive pressure feels way better than playing against relegation.

“This was a really hard feeling, especially before the games. What if we lose and go down? We had 60,000 supporters in the stadium so the pressure was on.

“It was my club, the club where I went to when I was eight years old, a big club. Some compared it to Leeds over here, with a big past. Always the second power next to Bayern Munich.

“It was a really tough situation. I’m really lucky in a way that I was part of it and obviously that we were successful but I don’t want to have this kind of pressure again.”

After drawing 0-0 in the first leg, Munich trailed at home before equalising in the 78th minute and then scoring an injury-time winner.

Schindler hopes the experience can help him in the two games against Wednesday but also enable him to keep his team-mates relaxed.

The 27-year-old said: “Once you have experienced this, you can take a lot out of it and also use it now for this situation to maybe be a bit more relaxed, don’t put too much pressure on yourself because there has to be a balance of being focused of course, but also be relaxed to make good decisions.

“It’s all about body language and the way you’re going to affect players. If you’re nervous, they’re going to see that and maybe they’re going to feel the same.

“If you’re calm and relaxed but also focused, maybe you can give this also to your mates and help them to be calm.”

Schindler is part of a growing German contingent at Huddersfield led by manager Wagner, who was previously in charge of Borussia Dortmund’s second team.

Chris Lowe, Collin Quaner, Michael Hefele and top scorer Elias Kachunga have all found their feet quickly in England and sparked increasing interest in the Terriers back home.

Schindler said: “The interest for the Championship itself and also for Huddersfield has grown. I also have a few more interview requests for the situation we are in now and I think this is really good.

“We’ve talked a lot about the play-offs in the last few weeks but obviously now being ahead of them it’s really exciting and we can’t wait to play these games.”