Personnel update: Duo out for the time being - Zumberi in for the first time

"Despite all the disappointment, our goal must be to continue to get the best possible out of the season," said Robert Glatzel last Sunday after the 1-0 defeat in Kiel - and in doing so, he set out the no-alternative route for the upcoming final spurt of the season, which begins next Saturday (16 April) with the home match against Karlsruher SC (kick-off: 8.30 pm, tickets still available). 

After two days off, on which some HSV professionals trained at Volkspark, the first team training session of the week was held today. In the middle of it all for the first time was U21 centre-back Valon Zumberi, who is one of the regulars in head coach Pit Reimers' Regionalliga team (2021/22: 17 games, two goals) and has also gained international experience in the Kosovo U21 national team (five caps). HSV head coach Tim Walter was able to get a detailed picture of the 19-year-old from Hamburg (born in 2002), but the 46-year-old had to do without two midfielders: "Maximilian Rohr and Elijah Krahn have torn small muscle fibres in their thighs and will be out for the time being, but the boys are already on the bicycle ergometer," the coach explained in a media round after the 90-minute session.

Sonny Kittel was also in the weight room, but the Rothosen number 10 was doing classic load management. Without Rohr, Krahn and Tim Leibold (after tearing his cruciate ligament), who is still in rehabilitation, the Rothosen will prepare for the KSC home match and the DFB Pokal semi-final against SC Freiburg (19 April, kick-off: 8.45 p.m.) - and want to put Robert Glatzel's instructions into practice as best as possible.