Werder Bremen host FC Schalke 04 on Saturday. SVW coach Ole Werner talks about the opponent and fears for his forward duo.

In the preseason, FC Schalke 04 and Werder Bremen were promoted together, but afterwards the paths of the Bundesliga returnees diverged.

Before the second-round clash in Gelsenkirchen this Saturday (6:30 p.m., RS live ticker), SVW can ideally clinch a place in the Bundesliga, while Schalke, who are much further down the table, need to improve their position in the relegation battle.

For Werder’s coach, however, the approaching certainty of staying in the league is only a footnote. “We are concentrating on playing a good game at Schalke. That is our objective. What then comes out of that is always just the consequence of our work.” He said he has given little thought to the standings throughout the season and has done “very little calculating.”

Which, however, could become a disadvantage for his team: Bremen is worried about the attacking duo of Niclas Füllkrug and Marvin Ducksch. The two attackers were unable to take part in team training on Thursday, with Füllrug already having missed out on the past two matchdays. The Bundesliga’s top scorer (16) is plagued by calf problems.

“I wouldn’t rule out the possibility of him being available after all. But he couldn’t train with the team this week,” coach Ole Werner said at Thursday’s press conference.

Ducksch, on the other hand, after all also already at eleven goals and six assists, is struggling with the consequences of a cold. According to Werner, he will return with a “relaxed running unit” on Thursday afternoon. Question marks are also behind Eren Dinkci, Niklas Schmidt and Amos Pieper. “He will probably be available to us,” Werner said of the latter.

At the same time, the 34-year-old warned against the Schalkers. “They need every point and can unleash a great force in their home stadium. They have a very straightforward game.”

A good omen for the coach: Werner and his Schalke counterpart Thomas Reis have already met four times this season, with Werner prevailing four times. First against Reis when he was still on the sidelines in Bochum (2-0), then in the first-round duel against S04 (2-1) and finally in a test match during the winter break (1-0).