Thomas Delaney can smile again – without pain. The Dane is back doing individual training. On Tuesday morning he came through a relaxed cycle in the gym at the Weser Stadium. “I’m getting better, even though not quite everything has fully recovered yet. I no longer have a headache and my bruised face feels OK again,” said Delaney.
In the game against Mainz, Delaney suffered concussion and fractured his cheek bone. The midfielder was out of action for a week-and-a-half as he was told to rest by the club doctors. “I did nothing for 10 days and now we have to take it one day at a time and see how it goes,” explained Delaney. “There’s a big difference between cycling in the gym and playing in the Bundesliga in front of 40,000 people.” A mask has already been made for the 24-year-old. “If I’m not 100% fit, then I won’t play. We’re taking no risks.“
Werder head coach Alexander Nouri said that the possibility of the Dane playing some part in the upcoming game against Darmstadt was “in the balance at the moment”. “We will slowly increase the strain on him to begin with and then we’ll have to see when he is ready to return to first-team training,” said the first-team coach on his short term plans.
There’s even more positive news on Philipp Bargfrede. Delaney’s midfield partner is back doing regular training and the intensity of his training is increasing day by day. “We’ll wait and see how he reacts to the increased intensity,” said Nouri on the situation with Bargfrede. The possibility of him being involved in the games against Mainz and Wolfsburg was out of the question, but he has a chance of making the Darmstadt game. However, his trainer is not willing to make a premature decision on the midfielder. “We’ll decide over the next few days whether he’ll be available for Saturday.”
