Head coach Florian Kohfeldt can now call upon Yuya Osako in the 2nd round cup tie against FC Heidenheim. The Werder attacker just missed out on being named in the squad for the match in Leverkusen, instead remaining in Bremen. For club captain Niklas Moisander, however, the Pokal tie is still too early.
Werder’s injury problems are getting easier and easier as each match passes. Milos Veljkovic and Ömer Toprak returned to fitness before the Leverkusen game, and now Yuya Osako is back in the squad. The Japanese had been sidelined with a thigh injury since the game against Union Berlin, and only returned to team training last week.
SVW captain Niklas Moisander’s situation is somewhat different; head coach Florian Kohfeldt confirmed in a press conference that “everything is going to plan with Niklas, but he won’t be in tomorrow’s squad. He will train more over the coming days so that he's ready for Freiburg.” The Finn has had to deal with a muscle injury that he picked up shortly after the beginning of the season and has only made four competitive appearances so far this term.
Nor will Pizarro be making an appearance in the DFB Pokal, “Claudio will not feature tomorrow. He might be in our thinking for Saturday, but it’s more likely that he’ll be back for the Gladbach game.”
All other Werder first-teamers returned from the Leverkusen match with “no complaints.”
