Stuttgart coach Markus Babbel wants his side to "take the next step" up the table tomorrow when they host Werder Bremen.

Their form has improved after a difficult start to the season, registering two draws in the Champions League, victory in the second round of the DFB-Pokal and a win over Eintracht Frankfurt in the Bundesliga last weekend.

That win took Stuttgart up to 11th in the table ahead of this weekend's round of matches, but while that is still a long way behind their expectations Babbel believes his side are slowly turning the corner.

The former Germany defender said: "You could see in the games with Lubeck, Frankfurt and (Unirea) Urziceni that the lads want to climb out of the depths and we now have a big chance with a win against a strong opponent to take the next step.

Babbel gave his side Thursday off to recharge their batteries after a busy fortnight, while Bremen have had even less time to recover from their Europa League clash with Athletic Bilbao on Thursday, but Babbel does not expect that to be an advantage to his side.

"Bremen have so much experience that they know how to deal with such a situation," he said.

"They are a team who have competing at the top and have been playing in Europe for years now.

"Many of my players are not used to having games every three days."

Alexander Hleb has not figured in any of Stuttgart's last three games and he misses out again tomorrow due to a worryingly persistent muscular problem.

Martin Lanig is also out for six months after tearing cruciate knee ligaments.

Both coaches could therefore send out the same teams who played in European competition during the week.