Buoyant mood at training
Sunshine, 22 degrees, first three points in the bag and three long-awaited returns – conditions could hardly have been better for our first training session of the week. The boys’ smiling and joking around on the training pitch was indicative of what a win means in football. In short, the mood at Schenckendorffplatz after the 3-1 win away at VfL was buoyant. “We had fun out there, it felt good to be on the ball – it was a really good session. Personally, I’m happy to be back with the team so soon. That’s something that feels great,” Davie Selke was pleased to be training with his teammates again after recovering from a broken rib.
Piątek back with the team after 125 days away
Alongside our number seven, Marvin Plattenhardt also returned after recovering from an adductor problem, as did Krzysztof Piątek. The Polish attacker finally returned to the pitch with his teammates, exactly 125 days after his last appearance in Gelsenkirchen. Márton Dárdai (ankle), Rune Jarstein (recovering from Covid), Stefan Jovetić (calf) and captain Dedryck Boyata (precautionary) all did individual work. Lukas Klünter (shoulder) and Jordan Torunarigha (thigh) both had to miss out completely. They were both injured in the win in the Ruhr and are out for the time being. “We have to see who is able to play at centre-back. If necessary, Lucas Tousart can also play there,” explained head coach Pál Dárdai, who pushed his players for just over an hour on Tuesday.
After a 20-minute physical warm-up led by Henrik Kuchno, Dárdai and his coaching team then asked their players to run through a series of possession based drills, with limited touches and a focus on tight spaces as one might expect in a match. To finish off, the group split up. The eleven who started against Bochum ran a few laps with fitness trainer Markus Hödl, while their colleagues enjoyed a final game of six-a-side. “It is important to keep the boys fresh and get them fit. Now we’ve played four games, our rhythm is returning and it will get easier,” the coach gave us an insight as to his thoughts.
"We’re really up for it!"
The Hungarian is hoping to follow up the three points at Castroper Straße with another positive result. The team will have the chance to do exactly that as early as Friday (20:30 CEST), when they take on another promoted team – Greuther Fürth. “We want to win again. No one expects us to go from zero to one hundred just like that. The team must continue to show the mentality that they did in Bochum in terms of work-rate, then the wins will come automatically,” the 45-year-old concluded, receiving the boost of a recovering striker. “We want to get three points against Fürth and celebrate a second win in a row under the lights with our fans. We’re really up for it!” said Selke, underlining Hertha’s motivation for the next match. Should they triumph, the positive mood around the training ground should continue into next week!