Hansa Rostock or Alemannia Aachen: Which team will climb into mid-table, and which will remain at the bottom? The home side will have to do without their playmaker for this mission.
On Saturday, fans of the 3rd division can look forward to a real traditional derby: Hansa Rostock will face Alemannia Aachen at the Ostseestadion. 24,000 spectators are expected to attend the clash between the relegated and promoted teams. The stadium opens at 12 noon, and tickets are still available.
Central defender Dominik Lanius will not be available for the home side. The new signing from Fortuna Cologne, who is still out with injury, suffered a torn medial ligament and will be out for months. Hansa coach Bernd Hollerbach confirmed this ahead of the Aachen game:
“Unfortunately, Dominik Lanius tore his medial ligament in his knee again in the test match against Phönix Lübeck. That’s obviously a bitter blow, especially for him. He had tried to play it safe, i.e. without surgery. Now he has decided to have an operation. I think that’s the right decision. He will probably be out for a long time after the operation.”
Cedric Harenbrock is also likely to be out. The 26-year-old is not to be rushed back before the upcoming busy week of games. “Cedric had problems with his adductors again after the Aue game. We took him off as a precaution, so he’ll probably be out too. We have drawn up a schedule for Cedric with a specialist. Unfortunately, it’s been going on for too long with him; he already arrived from Essen injured. It’s not too bad, but we want to get him 100 percent fit. King Manu is also out, but he’ll be back in a week or two. Otherwise, everyone is on board and fit,” explained Hollerbach.
Cedi is one of our best players. He proved last year that he can score goals. He’s a really important player for us and we miss him – there’s no question about that.
Bernd Hollerbach on Cedric Harenbrock.
Back to Cedric Harenbrock: After seven years with Rot-Weiss Essen, the number 10 moved to Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania in the summer. He has been repeatedly set back by adductor problems, but has still managed to contribute two assists. Hollerbach sees the blond-haired player as an important building block: “Cedi is one of our best footballers. He also proved last year that he is capable of scoring goals. He is a very, very important player for us and we already miss him – there’s no question about that.”
Even without Harenbrock, however, the team is aiming to secure its second home win of the season against Aachen. That has to be the goal for the second division relegation team. The coach is warning against the robust visitors from the imperial city, however:
“There is continuity in Aachen, they were promoted together and the processes are clear. They played a great game in Dresden. Aachen is a physically strong team that presents itself as a unit and is very difficult to beat. We must not underestimate them under any circumstances, we have to take up the fight and hold our own.”