Austrian return with obstacles

The return of the Greeen-Whites' international players Wednesday afternoon was very much anticipated. And the focus was on the three Austrian national team players Marko Arnautovic, Sebastian Prödl and Zlatko Junuzovic. "They played well. They continued what they have done here in the last few weeks. They were a big part of why the Austrians played a good game," said Werder head coach Thomas Schaaf after the performance of his Austria trio, all of whom played the full 90 minutes but had to accept a 2-1 defeat to the Germans.

The Werder Austrians spent the night in Vienna and began their travels to northern Germany in the morning. But the trip proved to be more difficult than planned. They missed their connecting flight in Munich, leaving Juno and the others stuck in Munich airport. "We got something to eat and drink and just killed the time," said Junuzovic after the extra time in the Bavarian capital. A new flight was booked, one which would land in Hannover. And then the Austrians drove from Hannover to Bremen in the car and headed directly to the training grounds and got caught up with the other national team players as Sokratis, Theo Gebre Selassie and Aleksandar Ignjovski went through a light running session.

Werder's other international players Kevin De Bruyne, Mehmet Ekici, Francois Affolter and Richard Strebinger went through the normal training session. And the direction is now clear as Werder will face off against Hannover on Saturday. "The match against Germany was nice but unlucky. If we had been more efficient we could have picked up a point. And now the Hannover match will be a difficult task. We really have to give our all. That will be my mind frame for the coming days," said Werder centre pack Prödl ahead of the small North Derby.