Yesterday's 3-2 defeat at Freiburg has left them with just five points from the first seven games and the Germany striker, whose own form has reached its best level since he arrived at the club just over a year ago, bluntly summarised his club's predicament.

"It is deadly when you go 2-0 behind so quickly in a Bundesliga match," he told reporters.

"We were harmless. We should not beat about the bush - the relegation battle has long since started for us.

"If things carry on like this, then it is going to be tough to stay in the league."

And coach Zvonimir Soldo said some of his players are already playing lower-level football.

"The way we tackled before the first goal is not worthy of the Bundesliga," he moaned. "Some players have not understood what is at stake here."

Cologne now have almost a fortnight to work on their problems before they face a tricky home game against local rivals Borussia Dortmund.

One week later, they travel to high-flying Hannover with the fixture list not doing them any favours.