Ekici in running training

When the Werder players took to the training pitch at Weser Stadium at 10 a.m. Tuesday morning, there were two Werder players who had been there already a while. Mehmet Ekici and Cimo Röcker both completed an individual training in the morning.

For Ekici, who had to leave the training camp in Zillertal early, it was the first session on the pitch since his return. The 22-year-old ran some laps with athletics trainer Reinhard Schnittker. "Everything felt good. I don't have any more pain," said the midfielder, who slipped during the test match against the selection teams from Germania Leer and Frisia Loga and suffered a slight hip strain.

After the running session, Ekici said he hopes he can train again soon with his teammates. "Luckily everything has developed very well. Over the course of the week, I hope I can get back to team training. Until then I will continue to train individually," said Ekici.

Sokratis will be much quicker in his return after missing team training Tuesday morning. "Papas was at a sports examination. He had slight problems with his knee and that doesn't just go away overnight. But it's not that bad that he's really limited. He will train again this afternoon," said head coach Thomas Schaaf.