Third division team Rot-Weiss Essen travels to the U23 of SC Freiburg this weekend. Coach Christoph Dabrowski spoke about the personnel situation in the run-up.
On Wednesday evening, defending champions Rot-Weiss Essen played their first Niederrheinpokal match of the season. The third division team was hosted by district league team SuS 09 Dinslaken.
The Essen team won 6:0 and reached the second round, which will be drawn on Thursday (6 pm).
As in the previous games, head coach Christoph Dabrowski was unable to call on a quintet for the Dinslaken game. Aaron Manu, Ekin Celebi, captain Felix Bastians, Sandro Plechaty and Nils Kaiser were all absent. Lucas Brumme was also absent due to thigh problems, but will be able to return to normal training on Thursday and play at the weekend.
Four of the five convalescents from the last few weeks will definitely not be able to play in the upcoming away game against SC Freiburg II (2 September, 2 p.m.), but there is hope for one player.
Dabrowski confirmed this at the press conference before the match in Breisgau, to which RWE will be accompanied by 500 fans. “There are no big changes compared to the last game. One positive thing is that Aaron Manu trained with us all week,” explained the 45-year-old. It is quite possible that he will be in the squad for the first time in Freiburg. However, it is still too early for him to play.
Dabrowski continued: “The other four players who were previously on the list will again not be in the squad. Felix Bastians looks like he will be fit for the next match against Regensburg after the international break. We will have to see when he will actually start training next week. Ekin Celebi will start training on Thursday. We’ll have to wait and see how he copes with the strain. With Sandro Plechaty and Nils Kaiser, it will definitely take a while. “
We have kept many options open. But it’s also a fact that the club sets the framework conditions and we have to accept that. Overall, I’m very happy with the team. It’s a great team. Nevertheless, as a coach I have to point out that we don’t have quite as many players across the board. There’s a danger of bottlenecks due to injuries.
Christoph Dabrowski
Whether a new player will join the RWE squad before the summer transfer window closes on Friday, 1 September (6 p.m.) currently seems doubtful. The planned loan deal with Bochum centre-back Tim Oermann did not materialise for financial reasons and RWE also have to invest 125,000 euros in a new pitch.
“Basically, it is clear that we have analysed our squad and our situation in recent weeks. We have kept many options open. But it’s also a fact that the club sets the framework conditions and we have to accept that. Overall, I am very happy with the team. It’s a great team. Nevertheless, as a coach I have to point out that we don’t have quite as many players. There is a danger that injuries will cause bottlenecks. There are still a few hours left. Maybe the club will announce something,” Dabrowski emphasised.