Dortmund in mind – Baumgartlinger and Retsos return

Baumgartlinger came onto the pitch 20 minutes after his team-mates to work with the ball for the first time since his knee injury in the DFB Cup game against Pforzheim. "He's making great progress in his recovery. I hope Julian will be available again after the international break," said Heiko Herrlich. Retsos followed after the official training session was over.

question mark Over Mitchell Weiser

The day after the 2-1 victory in the derby in Düsseldorf, head coach Heiko Herrlich sent the starting eleven on a regenerative bike ride along the Dhünn under the eyes of fitness coach Schahriar Bigdeli – accordingly, the training group consisted of just seven outfield players (Lucas Alario, Jakub Bednarczyk, Karim Bellarabi, Julian Brandt, Aleksandar Dragovic, Paulinho and Sam Schreck) plus three goalkeepers (Ramazan Özcan, Thorsten Kirschbaum, Tomasz Kusz).

Only Mitchell Weiser had a lighter session on Thursday. "Mitchell had slight problems with his groin before yesterday's game and they hadn't got better by today," said  Herrlich, who is hoping the 24-year-old will be fit for the forthcoming game against Borussia Dortmund and that no more of his players get injured giving the current personnel situation.