Prömel: “Hopefully the comeback is coming soon”

It was an emotional high point in what has been a difficult season: On 23 April, Grischa Prömel celebrated the comeback he and TSG had been waiting for after a six-month injury-enforced absence. “It’s not easy when you see the team out on the pitch at the training ground every day and you are working on your own. As a footballer, you want to be on the pitch,” says Prömel. “A competitive game is a completely different beast altogether than a training session.” His comeback was successful in the 3-0 win at Rot-Weiß Koblenz: “I got through everything well and felt good.”

Now Prömel is hoping for the next and final step of his rehabilitation: “I have worked long enough now and hope that a comeback in the Bundesliga will come as soon as possible.” Head coach Pellegrino Matarazzo held out the prospect of just that at the pre-match press conference. “I’m looking forward to having him back, and if everything goes to plan, he’ll be in the squad.”

That would see Prömel come full-circle, as he sustained his injury in the reverse fixture against Leipzig (1-3), when he collided with teammate Christoph Baumgartner while challenging for the ball. Now he is hoping to be able to help in the final stages of the season to ensure TSG remain in the top flight. “We have to be completely united – in the team and throughout the entire club,” Prömel said, outlining the plan for the remaining five games. And perhaps he will be back to help the team in Leipzig – some 175 days after his injury.