Time to lift the gloom around Dortmund, says Klopp

Borussia Dortmund need to get rid of “guilty conscience” to enable them to pull away from the Bundesliga relegation zone, says Jurgen Klopp.

Jurgen Klopp has called on Borussia Dortmund to lift the gloom around Signal Iduna Park as they seek to climb away from trouble in the Bundesliga.

A woeful first half of the season saw Klopp’s men tumble to the foot of the table, yet they have started positively since the winter break with only one defeat in 2015.

Dortmund face a relegation dogfight on Friday when they head to bottom club Stuttgart, with both clubs knowing the significance of claiming three points.

Victory over Mainz last Friday lifted Dortmund out of the relegation zone, and Klopp is focused on following up that win.

He said: “We want to remain in this league and I want to make it clear as early as possible that I am not worried about the other [relegation].

“We’ve had a guilty conscience for long enough now. We have to start playing positively.

“In Stuttgart it has never been easy, but for us winning is definitely a possibility. This is a real relegation battle.”

Klopp’s plans could be thwarted by a spate of flu at the club heading into the match, with Erik Durm, Jakub Blaszczykowski, Jeremy Dudziak, Mats Hummels and Ciro Immobile all falling ill this week.