With Werder Bremen’s Bundesliga re-start looming this Sunday against VfL Bochum, trainer Thomas Schaaf is again plagued by injury problems. With Patrick Owomoyela, Kevin Schindler, Martin Harnik and Max Kruse all resting on Thursday following their efforts for the reserves in the DFB Cup yesterday evening (2:3 against VfB Stuttgart), the squad was further weakened by the loss of Petri Pasanen. The Finnish international is suffering from a back injury which could keep him out of Sunday’s tie whilst Pierre Wome will definitely not be available as a defensive alternative. On a more positive note, German international Patrick Owomoyela came through his first competitive match, after a six month lay-off, unscathed and Thomas Schaaf was delighted about the return of the full-back: “It’s not so easy to settle back in after such a long time away but Patrick certainly offers an option for Sunday. We’re happy that he can participate again.“

The following group took part in today’s training: : Wiese, Vander, Mertesacker, Naldo, Tosic, Baumann, Jensen, Diego, Borowski, Vranjes, Almeida, Rosenberg, Artmann, Klasnic, Hunt.