Back sooner than expected? BVB get good news on Schlotterbeck | OneFootball

Borussia Dortmund can hope for Nico Schlotterbeck to make his comeback soon. After a long injury layoff, the center-back has returned to BVB’s team training.

Good news for Borussia Dortmund: the personnel situation in defense is easing. On Wednesday, two defenders who had recently been sidelined by injury, Nico Schlotterbeck and Ramy Bensebaini, were both able to complete parts of team training again. Schlotterbeck in particular is now moving closer to a return to competitive action.

The 26-year-old had been unavailable for several months. The Germany international suffered a torn deltoid ligament in his left ankle on June 20 during the FIFA World Cup match against Ivory Coast. As a result, Schlotterbeck missed the entire preseason. His comeback had initially only been planned for after the international break at the end of September.

However, there are now increasing signs that it could happen sooner. Even before his center-back returned to team training, BVB coach Niko Kovac had already given a positive prognosis. “I hope we’ll have him fully back in team training in the next one or two weeks. If that happens, he would also be an option again,” said Kovac.

BVB given hope with Schlotterbeck and Bensebaini

There is still no specific date for Schlotterbeck’s return to the Dortmund squad, however. BVB want to ease the defender back into full training load after his lengthy layoff. Most recently, Schlotterbeck had initially been working individually. “Schlotti is already doing the drills on the pitch. Of course, everything is still in isolation. Of course, it’s all still without opponents,” Kovac explained.

Photo: IMAGO

The key now is how his ankle responds to the increasing workload. Kovac made it clear that Dortmund do not want to force anything despite the progress: “Of course the goal is to have Schlotti back as quickly as possible. But there must not be any setbacks.”

Bensebaini is also making progress. The 31-year-old Algerian had suffered a rib contusion and had therefore recently been unavailable for BVB. Now he too has been able to get back to work on the training ground with his teammates. That gives Kovac more options in defense. For the time being, however, it remains to be seen when Schlotterbeck will actually be able to feature again in a competitive match.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇩🇪 here.