Maclaren moved from Brisbane Roar to the 2.Bundesliga side in May. So far the club has won three and drawn one of its first four league fixtures.

Die Lilien sit in second place on the ladder, on the same amount of points as table toppers Fortuna Dusseldorf.

"It's been really good," Maclaren said.

"Pre-season was very tough, probably the toughest I've had in my career so far. I think it shows why they're world champions, they're just structurally well. The way we've set up has been really good. It shows in that we've started so well.

"With 10 points from four games is a very good start so we're quite happy."

 



Maclaren has featured in two of the four matches, getting 27 minutes off the bench against FC Kaiserslautern and 14 minutes off the bench against MSV Duisburg.

The striker admits he has to be patient to receive more game-time.

"You can't expect things to happen so quickly and when the team's successful not much changes," he said.

"It's good to always be involved and it works in my favour that I'm good off the bench as well. I like to put a bit of impact into the game and so far I've done that. Hopefully I can get my first goal for the club.

"So far it's been a good start and I'm loving life in Germany."

Maclaren is in Japan with the Socceroos preparing for Thursday's World Cup qualifier.

The 24-year old said the national team are letting the importance of the match get to them.

"We'll just try and keep it on the down low and let us do our own thing," he said.

"Because we know what we have to do, there's no other outside talk. Inside the group and with the coaching staff and the boss, we know the job at hand and we'll go ahead and do it."