Schmidt: 'Tah and Toprak doubtful for Freiburg game'

Schmidt: “Despite this situation, we will field a very good side that has trained very well this week. It’s a game where we have to produce an absolute top performance. And that’s our aim.”

The head coach described the opposition SC Freiburg as “a good team that never gives up. They always push their opponents all the way. But we definitely want to take all three points. We played well against Leipzig and Bayern but didn’t get anything out of it and now we need to put in another shift against Freiburg. It’s a very important match for us and we have to be fully focussed.

Kieß, Danger and Yurchenko return

The forwards Stefan Kießling, Joel Pohjanpalo and Vladlen Yurchenko are due to return to the squad. “All three have been in full training. They aren’t back to full fitness yet - but they could be in the squad against Freiburg. It’s good to have options on the bench.”

The boss gave a full account of the injury situation at the press conference: “When two players get injured on the same day then it makes you think about it and look at the reasons why. Responsibility for injuries always lies with me as head coach. We agree the training regime with the medics and the fitness coaches. We need intensive training and regular fitness work to get the players in top condition. Physical fitness is extremely important for the we play.“

Schmidt and his fellow coaches take their responsibility for the injuries to Admir Mehmedi and Kevin Vollandseriously. Even though the two injuries are completely different as Schmidt explained: “Kevin Volland got a kick on the ankle in training. He was receiving treatment after the session when he felt a sudden tightening in his thigh. With Admir Mehmedi it was a case of him suddenly feeling pain in his groin during the training session.”

Tah and Toprak doubtful

There are question marks over the availability of central defenders Jonathan Tah and Ömer Toprak. Tah has spent the past few days at home in bed with a cold and Ömer Toprak suffered a knee injury in training and may not be fit in time for this weekend’s game. “We don’t know if he’ll be available,” said Schmidt. Karim Bellarabi and Lars Bender are still to return.

Bayer 04 expect a crowd of 27,500 against Freiburg - including 1,000 Freiburg fans. The Werkself and SC Freiburg will join the rest of the Bundesliga clubs in observing a minutes silence and wearing black armbands in memory of the victims of the air crash in Columbia.