Sports director Marcel Schäfer has backed the new coach Niko Kovac after the worst start to the season in VfL Wolfsburg's Bundesliga history.

Kovac is "very firmly" in the saddle, Schäfer said in a ZDF interview after the 4-2 defeat against 1. FC Köln. In an interview with Wolfsburg journalists, the 38-year-old also specified: "We have to keep calm, we have to work. Because the criticism that rains down on us is justified if you have two points after five matchdays. Nevertheless, you only get that as a group resolved." VfL is still without a win in the Bundesliga.