“The goals did me good”

Wednesday’s training session was very much to Thomas Kastanaras’ liking. “As a striker you can’t complain about lots of finishing,” said the 20-year-old. “It was a good start to the week’s training.”

Kastanaras’ most recent competitive outing for the VfB U21 team last weekend also went according to plan, as he scored the first and third goals in a 4-0 win over 1. FSV Mainz 05 II. “The two goals did me good – I’m glad I was able to get some playing time under my belt,” he said.

For a while, playing football was out of the question for the young striker, who has been with the Cannstatt club since U9 level and has made four appearances in the Bundesliga so far. In May of this year he broke a metatarsal during a U21 match in Fulda, which was followed by an operation and rehabilitative training.

Kastanaras returned to the training pitch at the end of July. Since then, he has made three appearances for the U21s this season, scoring three goals. He will likely get more game time on Thursday, when the VfB first team take on SV Wehen Wiesbaden in a friendly at the club campus. The match is being played behind closed doors for organisational reasons, but is available to watch live on VfB-TV and the VfB YouTube channel from 14:00 CEST. “Friendlies like this are a good opportunity to prove yourself,” added the striker. “I’m going to give it everything.”