In the mood for points

Time to get back to work, and on we go: After a very respectable performance in Mönchengladbach, another team called Borussia awaits us on Saturday (15:30 CEST). Preparation for this Matchday 4 clash at the Olympiastadion got underway on Monday at the Schenkendorffplatz. “We are continuing to work on our core aims and want to improve our game. Today, we are focusing on our attacking game, on Tuesday we’ll be looking at playing out of possession, and on Wednesday, we’ll have opponent-specific focus on Dortmund,” said Sandro Schwarz as a new training week got underway.

His squad began the training programme at the start of the week. After a warm-up led by performance coach Markus Hödl, the team worked on passing drills. Under the watchful eye of the coaching team, Prince Boateng, Wilfried Kanga and colleagues moved the ball in quick relays. “Keep it moving, don’t be static,” called Schwarz and his staff, looking for precision and sharpness. The squad carried out his instructions accordingly. "Good running, boys," Davie Selke called on behalf of the team. Schwarz then split his team up, playing a mini-game format, with both small and big goals, testing pace and movement. The Hertha team also knew how to get the net bulging a few times. "Bravo, boys," was the praise from assistant coach, Volkan Bulut, complementing his players’ performance.

Pair missing, quartet training individually, Plattenhardt returns

In addition to Kélian Nsona, Dongjun Lee, Jessic Ngankam and Derry Scherhant, who all trained individually, Linus Gechter (flu-like illness) and Marc Kempf (private reasons) were also missing during the 80-minute session "Marc will return to training on Tuesday, Linus hopefully on Wednesday or Thursday," Schwarz explained on the two absences. Captain Marvin Plattenhardt, on the other hand, was back in on the field after recovering from muscular problems. "Platte took part in the whole programme, we don't expect him to aggravate it again, so he will be fully fit," the head coach added..

For the rest of the week, Hertha will train on Tuesday and Thursday in front of the fans, as well as Wednesday and Friday behind closed doors, ready to meet Dortmund at the weekend. "Regardless of their most recent result, we expect a highly motivated opponent. We'll analyse Borussia Dortmund, of course, but first and foremost we will stick to our plan and work out what we need to play our game. That is important for us. We only try and influence things on the pitch that we want to see – that’s something we concern ourselves with," Schwarz concluded. With this attitude and hard work, shown by the boys on Monday ahead of a week of training, this time points are on offer once again at the weekend.