Thorup: “We’ve got an important week ahead of us”

Three games in seven days

On Matchday 8 of the Bundesliga, FC Augsburg will host Borussia Dortmund at a sold-out WWK ARENA. The match will kick off at 15:30 CEST on Saturday, 26th October. FCA head coach Jess Thorup is hoping to get a busy week off to a positive start.

“Everyone’s been giving their all in training,” said FCA head coach Jess Thorup after an intensive week of preparations. Tactics were of course on the agenda, but the team and coaching staff’s main focus was to become mentally ready. At the press conference ahead of the game against BVB, Thorup looked back to last season, when FCA were considered the league’s ‘comeback kings’. “We always kept believing no matter what. That’s the kind of attitude we need.”

The Fuggerstädter are looking to take this belief into the next match to help get a result against Dortmund. “This is our chance to prove that we can pick up points against the biggest teams as well,” continued the Dane, who emphasised that anything is possible when you take the lead in front of your own fans.

“We’ve got a very important week ahead of us,” added Thorup. FCA are set to play three games in seven days. After facing Dortmund, they will take on Schalke at home in the DFB-Pokal on Tuesday, before travelling to play Wolfsburg next Saturday.

Jensen to undergo an operation and Gumny close to a return

After missing the 3-1 defeat in Freiburg due to a muscle strain picked up against Gladbach, Keven Schlotterbeck was back in mostly full team training this week. Thorup is hopeful that the centre-back will be available at the weekend. Fredrik Jensen will be missing, however, as he is set to undergo an operation and will be out for weeks.

Robert Gumny meanwhile is close to a return following his ACL tear. He was able to train fully with the team during the week, and is set to feature for the U23s and return to the senior squad over the next few weeks. Ruben Vargas is also progressing well, though he is not yet ready to play. Mads Pedersen is still out with calf problems, while Daniel Klein will also be unavailable due to a foot injury.