Sebastian Kehl Promises Borussia Dortmund Will Carry Mike Tullberg's Energy Under Niko Kovac

Borussia Dortmund will carry forward the energy instilled by Mike Tullberg under new coach Niko Kovac, sporting director Sebastian Kehl has promised. (More Sports News)

Tullberg took over as interim head coach afteꦦr Nuri Sahin was sacked last month, amid a poor run of results that saw Dortmund tumble into the bottom half of the Bundesliga table.

After confirmation that former Bayern Munich boss Kovac would take over 🧸from Sunday, Tullberg ended his spell in the dugout with a 2-1 win at Heidenheim on Saturday.

Spe෴aking to reporters in the mixed zone after that game, Kehl thanked Tullberg and his staff for changing the mood at the W꧒estfalenstadion.

"We have now picked up four points in the league, even though we were outnumbered for 70 minutes in the 2-🅘2 draw with Br💯emen a week ago," Kehl said.

"We deserved to win෴ today, even if there were phases in the second half in which things were a bit more unsettled. Th🔯e goal for 2-1 was unnecessary. Nonetheless, the team put up a fight. 

&🍸quot;The three points will do us a world of go📖od. We're still in the mix. It's extremely tight in the table. 

"The coaching staff have tried to be positive 🐼and to give the team energy. We've earned the results. A bit of the ligh𒐪tness came back too. 

&🌺quot;But the path must remain the same, and it will not change under Nico🦩 Kovac. We need to work hard on ourselves and earn the results. It's all still to play for."

Serhou Guirassy and Maximilian Beier were on target in Saturday's win, with the former also having netted twice in Wednesday's 3-1 Champions League victory over Shakhta𒁃r Donetsk.

He is the joint-leading goalscorer in this season'🔴s Champions League alongside Robert Lewandowski (nine goals) and has struck ☂in four consecutive Bundesliga matches. 

Tullberg, who first joined Dortmund as head coach of their reserve team in 2019 before coaching their under-19 side, appeared emotional at the final whi🦋stle on Saturday.

As Tullberg prepares to return to that role, he said: "The clꦡub means a lot to me. 

"You can see that emotional oꦬutbreak at the under-19 matches as well, but not too many people watch those!

"It does not matter in which role, I am ju🐭st happy to be able to work at Borussia Dortmund.&ওquot;

Dortmund are now 10th in the Bundesliga table with 29 poi✤nts from 20 games, four adrift of the top four.