Nordderby week: Training update from Volkspark

113.7 kilometres, 175 sprints and 177 tackles: HSV's away match in Sandhausen last Saturday (19 February, 1:1) took a lot of energy, but the effort put in was rewarded with an increase in performance in the second half. After regenerative work on the following Sunday, head coach Tim Walter granted his squad two days off at the beginning of the week to recharge their batteries.  

But yesterday, Wednesday afternoon, they got back to business at Volkspark - the first training session of the week was synonymous with the start of preparations for the northern derby, which is on the agenda next Sunday (27 February, kick-off: 13.30). SV Werder Bremen, the team with the best form in the 2nd Bundesliga (22 out of a possible 24 points from the last eight league games), will come to Hamburg, but the Rothosen are also in consistently good form (unbeaten since 5 December 2021) and want to confirm their last impressions in the top match. In terms of personnel, Coach Walter can rely on almost all players at the current point, only Stephan Ambrosius (back in training after tearing his cruciate ligament) and Tim Leibold, who worked with rehab coach Sebastian Capel on the pitch again today after tearing his cruciate ligament, will certainly not be available. Moritz Heyer (knee problems last week), on the other hand, was on the pitch today, as was Anssi Suhonen (after tearing a muscle fibre in his thigh), who could be an option for the matchday squad. So there are many options for the 46-year-old football coach, whose team will certainly have to push itself to the limit again in the northern derby in order to take home something worthwhile.