FC Schalke 04 is preparing for the home match against Bayer Leverkusen. This is the personnel situation at the start of the week.

At the start of the training week before the home match against Bayer Leverkusen on Saturday, there was good and bad news for Schalke coach Thomas Reis.

The good news for the 49-year-old coach is that he can probably count on Dominick Drexler again against Leverkusen. About a month after the midfielder suffered a thigh injury, Drexler was able to complete the full training programme on Monday.

This also applied to the recently injured Eder Balanta (thigh problem), Rodrigo Zalazar (foot problem) and Thomas Ouwejan. The left-back had made his comeback in the 2:0 victory in the test match against VVV-Venlo last Friday.

However, the Königsblauen are threatened with a bitter loss against Leverkusen. Defender Moritz Jenz sat out training due to a pulled thigh. Sporting director Peter Knäbel told the WAZ newspaper that he was cautious about the 23-year-old’s chances of playing at the weekend.

A loss would hit Schalke hard. After all, the winter newcomer has played all possible games for the full duration so far and has played an important part in the Revierklub’s newly discovered defensive strength.

Kenan Karaman is also unlikely to be an option against Leverkusen. The scorer of the 2:2 in the derby against Borussia Dortmund a good a fortnight ago is suffering from a muscle fibre tear in his calf.

Tim Skarke and captain Danny Latza could return to the squad instead. The injured duo took part in limited team training on Monday. Marcin Kaminski, on the other hand, trained individually.

There is probably no hope for a quick comeback for centre-back Sepp van den Berg and left-back Jere Uronen. According to the club, the two defensive players are expected to be able to train with the team again in the course of the next month.