Borussia Dortmund coach Niko Kovac said on Thursday he expected his team to extend their unbeaten Bundesliga run when they visit Mainz 05 on Saturday with their confidence on the rise.
Dortmund, who host Athletic Bilbao in the Champions League on Wednesday, have now gone 12 league games without defeat, stretching back to last season, with 10 wins and two draws.
They are in second place in the Bundesliga on 10 points, two behind champions Bayern Munich.
"Mainz will be an uncomfortable opponent," Kovac told a press conference. "It will be an intense game. They put in a lot of running effort and attack early."
"So, there is a danger that there will be chances against us. They are a serious opponent, but I expect us to continue our run with our confidence high."
Dortmund have regained defensive stability under Kovac, who took over in January and switched from a four-man to a three-man defence.
Despite a series of injuries to defenders, including Niklas Suele and Nico Schlotterbeck, the Ruhr Valley club have kept a clean sheet in their last three league games -- all victories.
Kovac has a points average of 2.1 in 18 league matches since taking over, the best of any Dortmund coach at this stage.
"We focused on this in the summer, to try to minimise the number of goals conceded," he said. "We are on a good level."
"The defence starts up front, and I am trying to pass this on to our strikers. If we catch things early high up then we have fewer problems at the back."