Season

Batteries recharged ahead of the business end of the season

The Rothosen have started training ahead of the home game against Elversberg, with Adam Karabec back in full training. The players who went on international duty are all expected back over the coming days.

HSV head coach Merlin Polzin gave his players three days off from training last Thursday, giving them just a small individual programme to complete instead. His aim was for his squad to recharge their batteries before the business end of the season, with eight weeks to go before matchday 34 on 18th May. The first of these decisive eight games left is Friday night’s home fixture against SV Elversberg (18:30 CET).

21 outfield players and four goalkeepers in training

The well-rested Rothosen were back together on Monday morning, with the exception of those players on international duty. Coach Polzin was able to welcome back the recently injured Adam Karabec and ill Dennis Hadzikadunic to team training. “Adam was able to complete the full session,” explained the Hamburg-born coach after the first training session of the week. “Aboubaka Soumahoro and Matheo Raab are still training individually. Everybody else was involved and was looking good.” The session lasted around an hour and featured several drills on a small pitch after the warm-up. The Rothosen, who had last season’s top goalscorer Robert Glatzel available again for the successful trip to Magdeburg last time out (3-0), looked fresh and full of beans, as did coach Polzin, who, in between the drills, had his team together in a huddle to demand full intensity during training.

"It's a massive privilege"

This week will feature three further training sessions, as those players on international duty slowly start to return to the Volkspark. Emir Sahiti (Kosovo) is expected to return tomorrow after having successfully won promotion to League B in the UEFA Nations League, Miro Muheim (Switzerland) and Immanuel Pherai (Suriname, pictured) still have games to play with their respective nations. "We spoke often and early on with the national team head coach about Manu given that he had been sidelined with an injury for a while, in order to make sure that the travel involved would be worth it. He was very receptive to our opinions and Manu was able to feature in the first game. That's now planned to happen again in the second game," Polzin explained, going on to praise the importance of playing for one's country. "We definitely support this endeavor. If someone is called up to play for their national team, then that's a massive privilege. It shouldn't disadvantage the players at their clubs, even if in Manu's case, it's not ideal that he'll be returning so late ahead of our game on Friday."

Regardless of Friday's game against SV Elversberg, the Dutchman – who plays for his father's home country – will be fit for the business end of the season. "He was able to show off his qualities in the last game in Magdeburg, including his creativity and his ability to make deep runs – something he does the best of all our midfielders," the head coach praised. As the season run-in gets underway, Polzin knows full well that being able to count on the full breadth of his squad will be crucial as the team strives to achieve its ultimate objective.