Squad update: “We have several options”

After what Merlin Polzin described as a “excellent friendly”, in which HSV beat Dutch top-flight side FC Groningen 6-3 last week, the players were given an extended break over the international weekend. On Monday, the head coach and his staff called the team back to the training pitch. As well as the injured Warmed Omari and Daniel Elfadli, one more player was absent: the captain. He would have been away anyway with the Danish national team, but Yussuf Poulsen was already back in Hamburg after suffering a minor injury while away with Denmark and had already undergone tests at the UKE. The diagnosis is a slight strain. “It’s extremely frustrating that it’s happened again,” Polzin said while speaking to the media on Monday after training. “We worked hard for a long time to get him fit again and managed to get him back into the starting XI recently. So another setback is, of course, very frustrating.” However, the coach also highlighted one positive: “At least it’s only a very minor injury, and Yussi is already upbeat again. The Augsburg match will come too soon, but after that we’ll look to bring him back in.”

“We will need every single player over the course of the season” Merlin Polzin

Polzin understandably did not want to reveal what Poulsen’s absence might mean for the starting XI against Augsburg, especially with Fabio Vieira and Immanuel Pherai available again after serving suspensions. The coach kept his cards close to his chest. “We have several different options,” he said, before listing the possibilities involving Ransford Königsdörffer, Robert Glatzel, Rayan Philippe and Fabio Vieira. “Bobby is working well and doing a lot. He could start, because maybe right now it’s actually good for Ransi to come on from the bench. But of course, Ransi could start again, and Rayan can also play that position, which we could also fill with Fabio as a false nine. That would also be a good option,” said Polzin, before adding: “We have lots of options available to us and we’ll talk them through during the week to see how we can once again be a strong and tough opponent to face at the weekend.”