Those fans visiting Werder training Wednesday at Weser Stadium looking for the captain were left disappointed as Torsten Frings had to sit out. The midfielder received a knock on his left foot in the game Sunday against Hannover. In addition his left thigh was slightly tight. But Bremen supporters do not need to worry about their number 22. "It is nothing bad," said Frings, who according to head coach Thomas Schaaf will try to get back to team training on Thursday.

With youth players Lennart Thy, Florian Trinks, Dominik Schmidt, Felix Kroos, Leon Balogun and Pascal Testroet playing with Werder's U23 team Wednesday night in Regensburg, Bremen's training group in the morning included only 16 players. And the number dwindled to 15 in the afternoon session.

Aaron Hunt had to sit out in the afternoon with pain in his small toe after taking a spike to it from a teammate in a challenge in the morning session. But an x-ray relieved worries. "Nothing is broken. But I can't get into a football boot with my foot. We'll see how it is tomorrow," said the 24-year-old Hunt. In the meantime, Wesley passed another team training session, racing all over the pitch alongside Marko Marin. And in the end there was a shooting showdown with Tim Wiese.

Wolfgang Rolff's demand: nine goals in 18 set pieces or push-ups. The result: the players had to hit the pitch. The Werder players have their next chance to win that challenge on Thursday 17 February 2011 at 3 p.m. with the next training session.