Hertha BSC will host FC Schalke 04 on Sunday, but it is not yet clear whether the regular goalkeeper will be fit.

Hertha BSC have had to bury their faint hopes of promotion at the start of the year. With three games without a win, the Berliners have dropped to eleventh place in the Bundesliga 2 table – and are only four points above their upcoming opponents, FC Schalke 04.

The mood could be better in the capital ahead of the clash between the two relegated teams on Sunday (1.30pm, RS live ticker). One of the reasons: Coach Pal Dardai will probably have to worry about his regular goalkeeper Tjark Ernst. He was already unable to stand between the posts in the 2-0 defeat to FC St. Pauli at the weekend and had to pull out of the warm-up at short notice.

According to Kicker, the former VfL Bochum talent underwent an MRI at the start of the week, which revealed a bruised iliac crest. If Ernst is unable to play, Marius Gersbeck is available as a substitute. Ernst trained individually on Wednesday. Linus Gechter, Agustín Rogel and Robert Kwasigroch also did not take part in team training. Central defender Marc Oliver Kempf returned after several weeks out injured.

His defensive colleague, on the other hand, apparently has to fear for his regular place. We are talking about captain Toni Leistner. Like Marten Winkler and Haris Tabakovic, the veteran had to come off at the break in the 2-0 defeat to St. Pauli – for performance reasons

“We have a huge deficit in terms of speed of action and reaction time, even in this league,” said an annoyed coach Dardai afterwards, announcing “consequences for the next game”. “Every Monday we sit together, analyze the game and then the same thing always happens. You have to start replacing people. Then maybe we’ll defend forwards.”

The coach did not specify which players he was criticizing. However, defensive boss Leistner and top scorer Tabakovic (16 goals this season) are unlikely to be in the starting eleven against Schalke.