Oczipka, Stambouli and Skrzybski all back in training

“I was thrilled to bits to finally be able to train again,” said Oczipka, who had to undergo an operation at the start of July and therefore has played no part in the current season so far. “The training group is obviously not that big right now, but it’s a lot bigger than what I’ve been used to in the past few weeks.”

Stambouli without any pain

Stambouli suffered ligament damage at the end of August in training. “I feel good; I’m not in any pain anymore,” said the defender. “I would have liked to have returned to training earlier, but our medical team advised me that I should be patient with such an injury.”

The Frenchman is also still waiting for his first appearance in the current season. “It’s not a nice feeling to be only ever watching from the stands. I want to be able to help the team again in the coming weeks and months.”

Skrzybski back after injury problems

The same can be said for Steven Skrzybski, who signed from 1. FC Union Berlin in the summer. He was in the squad for the first three games of the season against Schweinfurt in the DFB-Pokal and the two Bundesliga games with Wolfsburg and Hertha BSC, but wasn’t brought off the bench. He had been out since due to muscular problems.

Five young players from the academy also joined the training group on Tuesday; goalkeeper Sören Ahlers as well as Jonas Carls, Jannis Kübler, Sandro Plechaty and Philip Fontein all got the opportunity to impress head coach Domenico Tedesco.

Amine Harit, who suffered a muscle strain against 1. FSV Mainz, didn’t take part in team training, instead completing a running programme with Johannes Geis.