Joachim Low: Germany will raise game for run-in

Germany coach Joachim Low says the world champions will bounce back after suffering a bit of a slump after winning the World Cup.

Defeats in September to Poland and Scotland in their next two Euro 2016 qualifiers would seriously compromise their hopes of qualifying for the European Championship next summer, but Low says there will not be a repeat of their post-World Cup travails.

Germany trail Poland by a point at the top of qualifying Group D while Scotland are just two points behind in third. The Republic of Ireland are also still in contention, four points adrift of Low’s men.

It promises to be a tight finish to the group in the autumn, but Low is certain his team will raise their game.

“For the games against Poland, Scotland and Ireland, the tension is going to rise,” he told Sport1 television.

“That’s going to be different to one or two of our other games this season.

“It was tough this year. After winning the World Cup and with all the euphoria from that, we fell into a bit of a rut.

“It was tiring and cost a lot of energy so it’s good for the players now to get three or four weeks to switch off.

“Next year, and I can promise this now, we are going to have more power. This is going to do the team good — they’re going to be really motivated.”

That is not to say Low is to abandon the sort of experimentation he has undertaken since winning the World Cup a year ago.

“We are still going to aim to feed a few younger players in,” he said.

“If somebody has the quality, then I believe that they will deliver the performance too.” Germany host Poland in Frankfurt on September 4 before travelling to Glasgow three days later. They then travel to Dublin before ending qualifying at home to Georgia on October 11.

The top two in the group qualify automatically for Euro 2016 with third place potentially good enough, although if it is not, then it would mean a playoff for a place in the France finals.