Milos Veljkovic made his return to the heart of the Werder defence against Eintracht Frankfurt a few weeks ago after being out with a long-term toe injury. However, the search for a fixed central defensive partner still goes on, with Groß, Toprak and Langkamp all being rotated in and out. However, it seems as if there will be an end to this in the coming weeks.
A few weeks ago, it seemed as if there would finally be a fixed first choice pairing for the Green Whites. With Toprak’s return to fitness and Moisander seemingly on the brink of a comeback, a fixed defensive partnership seemed to be on the horizon. However, this unfortunately didn’t turn out to be the case. After recovering from his calf problems, Ömer Toprak picked up further muscular and tendon injuries, keeping him out of action.
Adding to this, Niklas Moisander’s return to the squad also didn’t quite go to plan. After the Finn was facing his fourth start of the season a few weeks ago, he was dealt a setback in his recovery. The 34-year-old has now finally returned to first team training and is in contention to make his comeback as early as Sunday, as Werder take on SC Paderborn.
Moisander’s return is likely to mean that he would form an instant centre-back partnership with Veljkovic, as head coach Florian Kohfeldt sees the Finn as a crucial part of his team. Although it has now been a few months since the pair both lined up together, Veljkovic doesn’t believe it will take a long time to adjust to one another, “We’ve known each other for a long time now and have a great understanding on the pitch. He won’t need long to get himself back into the swing of things.”
Then he will be able to fulfil his role as captain to its full extent. “He helps us a lot off the pitch and soon he will be able to help us on it again aswell,” said Veljkovic, who added, “his word holds weight and he improves the players around him.”
