“No easy games in the Bundesliga”

VfB return to action at SV Darmstadt 98 on Bundesliga Matchday 22, kicking off at 15:30 CET on Saturday. Head coach Sebastian Hoeneß is still without first-choice goalkeeper Alexander Nübel, who remains sidelined with fluid in his hip. “Alex hasn’t trained this week,” Hoeneß said. “It’s nothing serious but he’s still restricted in certain movements.”

As was the case against Mainz last weekend, Fabian Bredlow will replace Nübel between the posts in Darmstadt. “Fabi had a very decent game – he hadn’t featured in a long time and played a big role in helping us get the three points,” said the VfB boss, who also confirmed that two other members of his squad have undergone successful operations this week. “Dan-Axel Zagadou (ACL) had surgery on Wednesday and everything went smoothly. Anthony Rouault (broken nose) had an operation on Monday and won’t be involved against Darmstadt. There’s still too much swelling.”

Back in Cannstatt

Two more VfB players have returned to club headquarters this week. “Nikolas Nartey is back and in good shape,” Hoeneß added. “He’ll most likely return to full training in time for the new season, which is very good news.” Silas, meanwhile, was the final member of Hoeneß’s squad to come back from international duty, after Hiroki Ito, Serhou Guirassy and Wooyeong Jeong arrived in Stuttgart earlier in the month after the Asian Cup and African Cup of Nations respectively. “Silas was with the team for the first time today,” said Hoeneß. “He hasn’t trained yet so we’re not sure about his availability for Saturday.”

Full focus on Darmstadt

Darmstadt may be bottom of the table, but Hoeneß won’t be underestimating VfB’s opponents at the Stadion am Böllenfalltor. “It’s going to be a tricky game,” he said. “Darmstadt are in a relegation battle and every game is enormously important. They’ll do everything they can to make life difficult for us. There are no easy games in the Bundesliga. We’re confident we can cause Darmstadt problems with a good performance, but only if we’re at 100 per cent mentally and physically.”