Milos Veljkovic (broken toe) and Sebastian Langkamp (muscle strain) are also back after long-term injuries and will make their first appearances in a matchday squad this season. “There’s very little chance of either of them starting though,” noted Kohfeldt.
There was also a positive progress report for Philipp Bargfrede from the coach: “He is another week along in his road to full fitness and maybe 20 minutes could now become 30 or 45 minutes. We will err on the side of caution though.”
The Werder physios have certainly been less busy lately, although Kohfeldt will still have to be patient with Ömer Toprak. The centre-back did return to team training this week, however. “Without taking too much of a risk, he could probably play 30 minutes, but we prefer to get him back playing for the Frankfurt game instead – featuring against Dortmund may hinder that,” said Kohfeldt. Captain Niklas Moisander could well return to action next week too.