Sapina out, Golz on the verge of returning – Dabrowski remains a firm believer

Third division club Rot-Weiss Essen is traveling to Bavaria again this weekend. This time, they face SSV Jahn Regensburg in an away game.

For the fourth time in a row, the players and fans of Rot-Weiss Essen had to make the journey home empty-handed after an away game: On Tuesday evening, RWE conceded a 2-0 defeat against the compact but harmless Munich “Lions”. Once again, the defeat was largely the result of two individual mistakes by the visitors.

“I’ll take the blame for what happened on Tuesday. I encourage the guys to play their football like that. They are totally capable of it. I’m not going to point the finger at individuals and single them out for one mistake. The guys can do this. We have to play with more conviction away from home, react quickly and make the right decisions. We are in fifth place in the table, have 39 points and are capable of playing fantastic football. I am and will remain a man of conviction. This is a development process,” summed up Essen head coach Christoph Dabrowski two days after the 1860 game.

On Saturday (February 10, 2:00 p.m.), Dabrowski’s team will be guests of the sovereign leaders SSV Jahn Regensburg and will have the chance to make amends.

During the last game at the Grünwalder Straße, the former Bundesliga pro had to do without not only the long-term injured Ekin Celebi (shoulder injury) and Sandro Plechaty (torn inner ligament), but also starting goalkeeper Jakob Golz (flu-like infection), Sascha Voelcke and captain Vinko Sapina (both knee problems).

Voelcke and Sapina will also be absent in Regensburg. I’m very optimistic that Golz will be fit again after his flu-like infection. We took pictures of Sapina and couldn’t see anything serious. But Vinko is still struggling with his own body and still has some problems that prevent him from going into a game at 100 percent.

Christoph Dabrowski.

At the press conference before the Regensburg game, Dabrowski gave an update on the physical condition of the three players: “Voelcke and Sapina will also be out in Regensburg. I’m very optimistic about Golz, that he’ll be fit again after his flu-like infection. We took pictures of Sapina and couldn’t see anything serious. But Vinko is in his own body and currently has some problems that prevent him from going into a game at 100 percent. We hope that it will get better day by day and we have to see that we get him back on the pitch from next week.”