Miron Muslic: We want to take the next step

Muslic has described the work in Stubaital so far as “very intense”. By the time the game kicks off at Stadion MELACH ROAD in Kematen, the Royal Blues will already have completed four training sessions, having also been in action away to Aue as recently as Sunday. “Of course, the players are feeling a certain amount of fatigue,” acknowledged the head coach. “But we know what lies ahead of us in the Bundesliga and how tough it will be. We’re making the most of every week and every training session to get ourselves ready.”

The game against Kharkiv will now provide another important opportunity to assess the team’s progress. Muslic intends to manage the players’ minutes carefully against last season’s fifth-placed side in the Ukrainian top flight, who have already been in Austria for some time as they prepare for the start of their own campaign. “Several players will get more than 60 minutes on Wednesday afternoon.” Six U23 players who are currently with the first-team squad at the training camp could also feature, either during the remaining half an hour or earlier in the game.

New signing Robin Gosens and Dejan Ljubičić, who has recently joined up with the squad following his involvement at the World Cup, will definitely not feature. Muslic explained: “We’re managing the two of them very carefully as well. They’ll both get their first minutes on Saturday and will only train on Wednesday.” Schalke will then face Japanese top-flight side Fagiano Okayama on Saturday (25/7), their third friendly in the space of seven days.