Fin Bartels' long time on the sidelines was supposed to be over soon, but Werder’s winger will have to wait longer still as he was inevitably forced to delay his comeback to the squad.
Fin Bartels' long time on the sidelines was supposed to be over soon, but Werder’s winger will have to wait longer still as he was inevitably forced to delay his comeback to the squad.
“Fin unfortunately didn’t get on as well as we had hoped in recent training sessions,” said Florian Kohfeldt on Thursday, when asked to give an update on the 31-year-old. “At the moment, he is back to training on his own, mostly in the weights room, but he has also completed several sessions out on the pitch,” the Werder coach added.
The plan for Bartels to make a full return to training in the upcoming international break and be available for selection has been delayed for now. “Unfortunately that won’t be happening,” clarifies Kohfeldt, adding: “He’s now got to continue to steadily increase his workload and get his body used to the added strain.”
The Coach is not ruling out a potential return for Bartels before Christmas, but doesn’t want to set anything in stone: “It’s really difficult to say when he’ll be back. Even when he’s returned to regular first team training and is back to strength, he’ll still need time before he can be available for selection.”
One thing that is clear is that Bartels will do everything he can to come back as quickly and as strong as possible, and would like to give Kohfeldt a selection headache up front. “He’s impatient and wants to get back on the pitch as soon as possible,” says the Green-Whites’ coach. “I’ve spoken with him and said multiple times that he should take the necessary time to recover. I’m certain that he’s fully motivated and will come back strong,” he adds. The club and the fans will be keeping their fingers crossed.
