The hot Werder autumn is about to start. The remaining schedule for the Green-Whites until Christmas looks extremely difficult. Four of the last six opponents in the calendar year are currently ahead of Werder who are eighth in the table.

Among the big match-ups are table leaders and 2013 treble winners Bayern Munich as well as Champions League side Bayer Leverkusen. "Those are exactly the games you want to play as a professional. You are playing against the best players in the world and want to showcase yourself," admitted Assani Lukimya, who was looking forward to the atmosphere at the matches. "Of course things will be pretty crazy at Schalke but I expect even more from the home match against Bayern. That will be sensational."

Theo Gebre Selassie feels the same way as the Czech international is getting more and more playing time late in the year. "I hope that it continues to go on like this. I will not let up," said Gebre Selassie. The defender is very motivated about the challenging end to 2013. "Everybody asks the question if it's going to be especially tough now. It will be especially interesting. I would be lying if I didn't say that I am really looking forward to Bayern." The Werder players see themselves with a chance to get points in those games. Werder definitely do not want to just hand over the points on Saturday against Schalke. "I don't know if we are at the same level as them but we definitely can pass them on the table if we win. We are going into that match looking to bring something back home," said Gebre Selassie.

Werder are definitely hoping for the comeback of Franco Di Santo during their hot autumn. And things are looking positive. The Argentinean went through individual training on Wednesday alongside Philipp Bargfrede and Predrag Stevanovic. Di Santo was working with the ball already but he did not do any tackling. Completely back in the mix meanwhile is Aleks Stevanovic, who trained with the professional side after playing in the U23 team's 3-0 win over Hamburg.