Borussia Dortmund coach Thomas Tuchel has said he will play the club's "best team" in their DFB Pokal quarterfinal at Stuttgart on Tuesday night.
Dortmund are two rounds away from reaching their third consecutive German Cup final, although Tuesday night's away match at Stuttgart provides a difficult challenge for Tuchel's side.
Stuttgart sacked coach Alexander Zorniger in late November 2015, and promoted Jurgen Kramny from the club's reserve.
They suffered a 4-1 defeat at Dortmund's Westfalenstadion in the new boss' first match in charge, but have since not lost a single match, and have won their last five competitive matches.
Stuttgart have impressed in the second half of the Bundesliga season (Ruckrunde), winning all of their games and scoring nine goals to help them to pull away from the relegation battle.
"I've been aware of the potential there for two years. It will be very difficult to play against VfB in this phase where they are showing their full potential and playing with such a balance between defence and attack," Tuchel said at his prematch news conference on Monday.
He singled out midfielder Daniel Didavi as the key player at Stuttgart, and said that only a team effort will secure Dortmund's berth in the semifinals.
"They have outstanding pace in the transition play," Tuchel said. "We won't win there if we do not manage to keep their counter-attacks under control."
Only three days after Dortmund's goalless stalemate against Hertha Berlin, and going into at least four consecutive three-match weeks, Tuchel vowed to play the best possible team to avoid a cup exit.
"We will tackle this special task with the best team we currently have," Tuchel said, and added that Shinji Kagawa, who did not make the Berlin squad for sporting reasons, will be back with the team at Stuttgart.
