Werder Bremen defender Amos Pieper pleased to have settled in

Werder Bremen centre-back Amos Pieper is chuffed with the start he's made at the Bundesliga outfit and hopes to help the club stave off relegation.

The 24-year-old defender signed a four-year contract with Werder in July, after leaving Arminia Bielefeld, and has already established himself as a regular starter.

Pieper has played in 16 of Werder's 17 competitive games this season, and only missed one due to a suspension.

"I said from the beginning that I quickly want to become part of this team and that I want to play as much as possible. But I also said that I realise how well set we are in that area of the pitch," Pieper told the club's official website.

"The first half of the season has shown that each of us can be used in different situations, so everyone has played a decent number of games and got a good number of minutes under the belt.

"A lot of things have gone well. We have a good structure and apart from the match against Bayern, we have been competitive in every game.

"Each and everyone one of us needs to make use of this period. We want to improve and that will be a requirement if we are to have a solid second half of the season."

The newly-promoted Werder currently occupy ninth position in the Bundesliga standings, but have lost their last two games and are only seven points clear of the relegation play-offs.

Pieper has already experienced multiple relegation battles with Bielefeld, and hopes to use his knowledge to help keep Werder in the top flight of German football.

"Securing Bundesliga safety is never easy," he added. "That's as much the case here as it was at Bielefeld. We managed it in the first season but we unfortunately couldn't do it second time around.

"I hope that it's a bit more stress-fee in my first, second and maybe even third year here."