Lewis Holtby says he will fight until the bitter end to keep Hamburg from being relegated from the Bundesliga for the first time in their history.
The HSV midfielder was speaking after scoring the winning goal against Freiburg, a result that moved the Dinos to within five points of the relegation play-off spot with three rounds of fixtures remaining.
Watch: Lewis Holtby determined to keep Hamburg afloat
"Everything is possible," Holtby told bundesliga.com. "My determination and belief is always there. It is not over until it is over. I just take it game by game, and I want to stay in the league with this club. Believe me, I trust in that."
Holtby has every reason to be optimistic. The 27-year-old has been in flying form since being reinstated to the starting XI by head coach Christian Titz on Matchday 27, scoring in the 1-1 draw with Stuttgart, the 3-2 win over Schalke and again in the relegation six-pointer with Freiburg on Matchday 31.
If they're going down, they're certainly not going quietly... #HSVSCF 1-0 pic.twitter.com/8bhmdQKCt6
— Bundesliga English (@Bundesliga_EN) April 21, 2018
To put the former Tottenham Hotspur man's influence into context, the Red Shorts won two of the 13 games he missed through injury between mid-November and mid-March (D4, L7), but have lost just two of the last five he has started (W2, D1).
Hamburg, the only founding Bundesliga member never to have been relegated, face Wolfsburg (a), Eintracht Frankfurt (a) and Borussia Mönchengladbach (h) in their final three games of the season.
Source: bundesliga.com