“Picking ourselves up again”

Notwithstanding the busy schedule, it has been an eventful few days for Hertha. Marco Richter, however, is looking to the future after the defeat to Union at the weekend. “We have to put everything negative out of our minds and pick ourselves up again,” explained the number 23. Sandro Schwarz also made it clear that his side need to focus on the upcoming tasks as Hertha kicked off their training week on Tuesday afternoon: “We had a meeting about how we can deal with this situation. The simplest thing to do is to take care of things together out on the pitch and uphold the trust amongst ourselves,” said the head coach.

Kenny back amongst it, Myziane returning to France

After an initial fitness session in two groups, the coaching staff focussed mainly on game-like situations on Tuesday afternoon. An intense warm-up was followed by a tournament consisting of four teams made up of six players. Florian Niederlechner and his fellow players put in some good tackles in the pouring rain and they also managed to find the net on numerous occasions. “From what I’ve seen, the lads are fully with it,” said Sandro Schwarz after the session. Chidera Ejuke (knee), Stevan Jovetić (muscular problems), Kélian Nsona (rehabilitation), Agustín Rogel (knee) and Lukas Ullrich (with the U23s in Liverpool) were all missing from the session. The coach also had to do without Myziane Maolida, who is on his way back to France for talks. Jonjoe Kenny, who missed the derby due to a concussion, was back amongst in on Tuesday.

“Creating a positive atmosphere”

According to Schwarz, the main priority ahead of the weekend’s cash with Frankfurt (4th February, 15:30 CET), is to “create a positive atmosphere of togetherness, energy and intensity.” The gaffer also believes the players can pick themselves back up by focussing on the things within their control: “It is important that we concentrate on the things that we can influence out on the pitch. Things have been going in the right direction in terms of how we want to play,” explained the 44-year-old. The remaining sessions before the trip to Deutsche Bank Park will take place behind closed-doors, and Schwarz will be hoping for maximum focus over the coming days.