Hertha BSC have made a small upheaval in the winter. The squad is smaller – in addition, two important players are missing in Bochum.

Not only VfL Bochum went into the winter break with a success. Their opponents on Saturday (3:30 p.m.) at the start of the rest of the Bundesliga season also celebrated a victory at the end.

Hertha BSC beat 1. FC Köln and climbed to 15th place. Now Hertha have to face VfL on Saturday, Berlin’s coach Sandro Schwarz travels to the Ruhr area with respect: “Bochum defend very well going forward and win many balls in the centre. We have to put pressure on their build-up play and also go for the second balls. It will be a heated atmosphere, both teams will throw everything in. We have to bring out the hunger we had against Cologne now.”

Schwarz will have to do without Chidera Ejuke and top scorer Dodi Lukébakio. In addition, the team parted with six players in the winter. This was a radical change in order to reduce the size of the squad and cut costs, as Hertha have to make cuts. Only Florian Niederlechner was signed a few days ago from FC Augsburg as an external attacker.

Schwarz reports: “With Florian Niederlechner, we now have to see from day to day how things develop. He has a few muscular problems and is in rehabilitation training. “

Hertha boss Fredi Bobic added: ” Flo definitely doesn’t need any acclimatisation, he is a full professional. He is someone who puts himself at the service of the team – that’s exactly what we need.” Update: Meanwhile, the club announced that Niederlechner will also miss out in Bochum.

Bitter for Hertha, because it is also about relegation for the Berliners, with a defeat in Bochum, the VfL would pass. Nevertheless, Schwarz is taking some of the pressure off: “This is not a deciding game. Nevertheless, it is a very important match. It’s the first match in 2023 and it’s important to show everything we’ve built up now – regardless of the table situation.”

Especially from the offensive they expect something more in Berlin after the winter break, Bobic is confident that the 19 goals scored so far will be followed by some: “I have the same impression as Sandro: our offensive is growing together more and more, you could see that in the training camp. The boys have all worked properly during their holidays and have come back in top shape. “