MSV Duisburg’s new potential third goalkeeper watched from the sidelines as his team lost 1-4 in a friendly against Münster. Two players were absent on Saturday.

Without Jakob Bookjans and Mert Göckan, MSV Duisburg suffered a heavy defeat against second division side Preußen Münster in their first friendly of the summer. Bookjans had recently suffered a bruised calf. The midfielder resumed running training on Saturday and is expected to return to regular team training at the beginning of the week. Left-back Mert Göckan, on the other hand, is likely to miss the next friendly on Wednesday evening in Homberg. He is still struggling with muscle problems. “It’s nothing serious, but he won’t be fit for Homberg. We’re more optimistic about the game against Lommel, though,” said Dietmar Hirsch, looking ahead to Saturday’s match against the Belgian second division side. After the defeat in Münster, the coach was clear in his assessment: the 52-year-old sees room for improvement, particularly in the team’s attacking play. “That wasn’t good under pressure. We have to try to break the opponent’s possession and pressing with good positioning.”

In the Duisburg derby against VfB Homberg, who play two divisions below, Hirsch expects his team to show more attacking punch at the PCC Stadium. However, the game against Lommel promises to be a greater challenge and therefore provide more valuable insights.“They are a top team and will come at us early again. Nevertheless, the game against Münster was helpful – we can probably expect the same kind of performance in the 3rd division,” said the coach.

Another familiar face was missing from the weekend’s test: goalkeeper Lukas Raeder, who had actually announced his retirement in 2023 and could now become the new number three at his old club, appeared in civilian clothes at the training ground on Westender Straße.

Although the former Essen player will still train with the team on Sunday, he is not expected to return until the end of next week. “Lukas is on a training course to prepare for life after football. After that, we’ll see what makes sense,” Hirsch said.