Stuttgart striker Daniel Ginczek has urged his teammates to show that they are prepared to fight for their lives following the club's 4-0 defeat at the hands of Bayer Leverkusen.

The loss sees Huub Stevens and his men sitting in the middle of a relegation dogfight at the foot on the Bundesliga table, having amassed a meagre 20 points so far this campaign.

"We played really well in the opening 30 minutes, but then we were our own worst enemies," said Ginczek, according to the Bundesliga's official website.

"Individual errors in not clearing the ball led to the first goal and we didn't recover after we fell further behind soon afterwards. We know we're right in the thick of things in the relegation battle, but we've got nine games left and we've got to show that we're prepared to fight for our lives.

"The time for talking is over - now we need to put it into action on the pitch. We didn't reward ourselves for the promising opening. We knew Bayer are a good side before the game, but we could have and should have given a better account of ourselves."

Stuttgart are back in league action next weekend when they face mid-table Eintracht Frankfurt.