Frankfurt preview – Retsos may return

Bayer 04 will  definitely be without the ever-present Wendell: The 24-year-old Brazilian has played in all fourteen competitive matches of the season so far and, with the exception of goalkeeper Bernd Leno, has played the most minutes for the Werkself. In the 2-2 draw against RB Leipzig, the full-back picked up a fifth yellow card and will now serve a one-match ban; as will Benny Henrichs after his red card. That means both will be missing from the defensive line-up against Eintracht Frankfurt.

progress for Sven Bender and Panos Retsos

Sven Bender, still suffering pain from a double rib fracture in the game against Augsburg, completed three out of four training sessions this week with the Tuesday afternoon spent working on his own at the BayArena. There will be a late fitness test on the 28-year-old ahead of  the game against the team in seventh place. "I'm getting better. But we have to see day by day whether it's enough for Saturday," said Bender.

Panos Retsos is also hopeful. After the Greek broke off training on Monday after feeling unwell, the medical advice following an  examination was to rest in bed but the 19-year-old defensive all-rounder was back in full training with his team-mates on Wednesday morning. "I feel much better and I think I'll be one hundred per cent fit for Saturday. the decision is down to the coach," declared Retsos knowing that Heiko Herrlich has two other defenders as options in André Ramalho and Tin Jedvaj.

fine tuning for Frankfurt game

Vladlen Yurchenko was the only one missing from the training ground on Wednesday. The Ukrainian midfielder suffered a bruised foot in training on Monday and has trained on his own for the past two days.

Herrlich will be working with his team behind closed doors for the next two days to fine tune his side for the match against Eintracht. Following the final pre-match training session, the Werkself squad will head for the team hotel in Frankfurt early on Friday evening.