Schalke 04 are worried about Marius Bülter ahead of Saturday’s opener in Frankfurt. The Königsblauen offensive player limped off the pitch on Wednesday.

FC Schalke 04 are worried about Marius Bülter ahead of their season opener next Saturday at Eintracht Frankfurt (15:30, Sky).

On Wednesday, the 29-year-old had to pull out of training for the team at the bottom of the table. A few minutes before the end of the session, the offensive player received a blow. Bülter was unable to continue the session and limped off the training pitch in Gelsenkirchen with a contorted face. It is currently unclear whether his deployment on Saturday in Frankfurt is at risk.

Schalke coach Thomas Reis does not have many offensive options to compensate for Bülter’s possible absence. Sebastian Polter is out for the rest of the season after his cruciate ligament injury, Florent Mollet was sold this week. A new striker is being sought.

At least Reis can rely on Simon Terodde. The goal-scorer trained again on Wednesday after taking a break due to stress management.

Rodrigo Zalazar and Thomas Ouwejan are not yet available for the Frankfurt game. Both completed parts of Schalke’s training on Wednesday, but a start on Saturday would be too early for the long-injured promotion heroes.

Midfielder Dominick Drexler missed training, as he did on Tuesday, due to a corona infection. Whether the 32-year-old, who has played twelve games for S04 so far this season, will be fit again for the game at Eintracht Frankfurt is still open. Defender Marcin Kaminski is also currently unavailable due to illness.