After an eight-day training camp in the Austrian town of Schladming, the Wolves squad departed for London on Friday morning ahead of two tough friendlies (one live on Wölfe TV at 20:45 CEST on Friday, the other behind closed doors on Saturday morning) against Brentford FC. The games against the Premier League outfit will form the dress rehearsal for Ralph Hasenhüttl’s side ahead of their first competitive game of 2024/25 at Koblenz in the DFB Cup first round on Monday 19 August (18:00 CEST).
“The team have done very well and worked very hard,” said the VfL boss, who was not expecting Joakim Maehle to be able to walk “perfectly normally” without crutches just a few days after being taken to hospital following a robust challenge in the goalless draw with Como. “Thankfully he came off really lightly.”
The second player to suffer a setback was recent signing Mohammed Amoura, who picked up an injury in training. The pacey striker is still wearing a brace to protect his knee, but he too has managed to avoid serious damage.
Ridle Baku has also sat out training in recent days due to a muscle issue, but Hasenhüttl was full of praise for the 26-year-old’s “superb work” prior to his injury. Aster Vranckx hasn’t been able to train with his colleagues at all after suffering a recurrence of a stomach muscle problem in the aftermath of EURO 2024, but Swedish midfielder Mattias Svanberg is back in full training after coming through his shoulder operation unscathed. “He gives us another option in an area where we’ve previously only had Max [Arnold] and Yannick [Gerhardt],” said Hasenhüttl, confirming Svanberg’s availability for the Brentford friendlies.