Borussia Dortmund's knack of winning close games means they are better positioned to challenge in the Bundesliga this season, believes midfielder Pascal Gross.

Dortmund battled to a 1-0 win over Augsburg at WWK Arena on Friday, with Serhou Guirassy profiting from a mix-up between Chrislain Matsima and Han-Noah Massengo to slot home in the 37th minute.

They climbed to second in the table, albeit having played one game more than Bayern Munich, who could go seven points clear when they host Bayer Leverkusen on Saturday.

Dortmund have already kept six clean sheets in nine Bundesliga matches this season, their most at this stage of any campaign and the joint-most in Europe's top five leagues, alongside Arsenal.

And Gross says their ability to grind out results gives them every opportunity of improving on last season's fourth-place finish. 

"Winning games like this more often... that's not something that has worked out for us so much in the last few seasons," Gross said.

"We need to win in difficult weeks. Let's take this with us."

Though Dortmund only attempted five shots, getting one on target for a total expected goals (xG) figure of 0.4, they also limited Augsburg to nine shots, one on target, and 0.7 xG.

Goalkeeper Gregor Kobel praised the way they defended as a team, saying: "Our attackers did really well today. That's been the key this season. 

"We are very stable, our opponents have few chances, they score few goals. It's a super job from the frontmen, from the whole team. 

"It takes every single person to do it. To win a game like this 1-0 is exactly what we need on a day like today."

Niko Kovac's team visit Manchester City in the Champions League on Wednesday, with Hamburger SV their next Bundesliga opponents on November 8.