VfL Bochum has started preparing for the derby against Borussia Dortmund. This is the current squad as of Wednesday.

In the past few days, the headlines surrounding VfL Bochum were dominated by the fence banner incident at the home game against VfB Stuttgart (1-0).

Now the focus is back on the sport, with the away game at Borussia Dortmund coming up on Sunday (5:30 p.m., RS liveticker). After the win against Stuttgart, Bochum started preparing for the game on Wednesday with a lot of momentum. However, coach Thomas Letsch has to do without two regulars in defense.

As was the case against Stuttgart, Keven Schlotterbeck is out. “It won’t be enough, it would be irresponsible,” said Letsch about the center back, who is suffering from muscular problems. In addition, VfL will be without Bernardo in Dortmund for the first time this season. The long-standing left back is serving a suspension for collecting a yellow card.

Maximilian Wittek or Danilo Soares are potential replacements. In the center, Noah Loosli moved into the starting eleven against Stuttgart instead of Schlotterbeck.

With Ivan Ordets, who made his comeback after a long injury break at the weekend, Letsch has another option. “He became more and more stable the longer the game went on. If he can perform at Bundesliga level for 30 minutes, he can also play from the start.”

Whether Tim Oermann will be allowed to start again on the right defensive flank, Cristian Gamboa will return to the team after a suspension for yellow cards, or Felix Passlack may even get a chance, Letsch was not willing to reveal on Wednesday. ”It always depends on what we have planned.”

In any case, Bochum can look forward to the return of Kevin Stöger in the center of midfield. The man for the creative moments returned to training after recovering from a stomach flu. It is likely that he will form a team with captain Anthony Losilla and Patrick Osterhage.

Some drew attention to themselves

Thomas Letsch on the 2-0 test match victory against Cologne

But Letsch might surprise with a starting eleven elsewhere. After all, Bochum’s second string were able to impress in a secret friendly against 1. FC Köln on Sunday, beating their league rivals 2-0. “Some of them drew attention to themselves,” praised Letsch.

The 55-year-old spoke of a good test, aside from the cruciate ligament rupture suffered by youngster Mohammed Tolba: “It was important for us to give everyone a good workout in the long week leading up to Sunday’s game. We succeeded in doing that. We won and kept another clean sheet. You could tell that the team was determined to win and we scored two beautiful goals.” (with gp)