This Thursday Schalke 04 will test at regional league team 1. FC Bocholt. S04 coach Thomas Reis will have to do without several players.

When a player who may be leaving the club is missing in a test match, it is usually a sign that a transfer is imminent.

However, it is different for Rodrigo Zalazar of second-division club FC Schalke 04. The playmaker is not available to S04 in the test at regional league team 1. FC Bocholt (Thursday, 6 p.m. / RS-Liveticker) because of a feverish infection. Kenan Karaman is also ill.

Karaman and Bülter are not the only members of the current professional squad who will not be travelling: Marius Bülter is about to move to TSG Hoffenheim, Ibrahima Cissé (U23 Mali) and Henning Matriciani (U21) were away with their national teams and will join training later. Cissé had been substituted injured during his team’s semi-final defeat in the U23 Africa Cup – but not because of a structural muscle injury, but because he was debilitated.

Three injured players are missing – goalkeepers Ralf Fährmann (muscle fibre tear) and Justin Heekeren (rehabilitation training after cruciate ligament tear) and sales candidate Florian Flick (metatarsal fracture).

The Königsblauen won their first test at SC Spelle-Venhaus, a team promoted to the regional league, 3-0. The line-up will not change. In order to be able to field two teams, coach Thomas Reis is likely to call on support from the U23s again.

Simon Terodde is particularly looking forward to the test match. The 35-year-old is a native of Bocholt, his home club is SV Krechting, which has its sports field about nine kilometres from Bocholt’s Hünting. In the 2001/2002 season he played for 1. FC Bocholt.

The current Schalke squad

Goalkeepers: Marius Müller, Michael Langer

Defence: Mehmet Can Aydin, Leo Greiml, Marcin Kaminski, Thomas Ouwejan, Cedric Brunner, Malik Taladibi, Verthomy Boboy, Tobias Mohr

Midfield: Ron Schallenberg, Danny Latza, Paul Seguin, Blendi Idrizi, Dominick Drexler, Assan Ouedraogo

Forward: Simon Terodde, Sebastian Polter, Soichiro Kozuki, Bryan Lasme, Keke Topp