It's not a surprise at all that the midfielder is not yet 100 percent after last playing in Werder's away match in Dortmund in mid-December 2010. "Of course I am a bit short of breath for a long appearance. But I have worked very intensively and don't feel any pain," said Jensen. Head coach Thomas Schaaf however had to make do Thursday without Philipp Bargfrede (cold) and Denni Avdic (bruised cheekbone). Schaaf said the team "really has to deal very sensitively with Denni's injury and slowly bring him back into the mix."
Avdic's teammates made it clear that they definitely want to pick up three points from the weekend showdown at Weser Stadium. "I am very optimistic regarding the weekend. After all we have gotten back to our old strengths of late," said Clemens Fritz, who admitted Schalke will come into the game confident. "When Schalke come here you know what to expect. We have to prepare for a very strong opponent," added Fritz. "We will continue our path of the past few weeks and absolutely want to win against Schalke."