“Strong up front and in terms of depth”

There are question marks hanging over a number of VfB players going into Matchday 7 of the Bundesliga. Aside from long-term absentee Nikolas Nartey, Sebastian Hoeneß is hopeful over the fitness of Dan-Axel Zagadou, Atakan Karazor, Angelo Stiller, Silas and Serhou Guirassy. “All the players with recent knocks are training with the team again, albeit not over the full distance,” revealed the VfB head coach. “The question marks are there but they’ve already got smaller as all of them are making good progress. I expect them all to be involved.”

For Josha Vagnoman, however, the game against Wolfsburg comes too soon, confirmed Hoeneß: “Josha will resume full training next week and then hopefully get some minutes in the friendly against SV Wehen Wiesbaden. We’ll see how things progress.”

The visitors are currently in seventh place, three points behind VfB. “Wolfsburg are in good form and strengthened very well during the summer break,” said Hoeneß. “They boast a strong Bundesliga squad up front and in terms of depth. They’re well drilled with and without the ball. We’re looking forward to going up against one of the best teams in the league currently,” he added.

Guirassy continues to lead the Bundesliga top scorers list with 10 goals after six matches. Queuing up behind him in third place is VfL striker Jonas Wind, who already has seven goals to his name this term. Hoeneß sees similarities in the pair: “I don’t think they’re that different. Both are physically strong players who like to be the central point of the attack, have a big presence in the box and are strong finishers. Serhou is maybe seen deeper a bit more often and also drops back into midfield sometimes and links up the play.”