Third-division football club Rot-Weiss Essen tested at Arminia Bielefeld on Thursday and lost 0:3. A quartet had to miss out at short notice.
From the 29-man squad at Rot-Weiss Essen, “only” 22 players were available on Monday evening against 1. FC Saarbrücken. Thomas Eisfeld (torn inner ligament), Meiko Sponsel (torn meniscus), Michel Niemeyer (rehab after surgery), Cedric Harenbrock (muscular problems), Moritz Römling (torn outer ligament), Daniel Heber (blow to the knee) and Clemens Fandrich (flu infection) could not play. The coaching team had to improvise and change the starting eleven compared to the 0:1 defeat in Osnabrück. Despite the absences, the Red and Whites celebrated a 1-0 surprise victory against the favourites from Saarland. Every player gave their all and contributed to the second win of the season. That speaks for the breadth of the RWE squad.
Three days after this success, Rot-Weiss Essen played a closed-door test match against Arminia Bielefeld. This match ended 3:0 for the Bundesliga relegated team.
Tarnat and Bastians have cold symptoms. The two of them were down with the flu. That’s why they couldn’t play. Wollschläger and Krasniqi, on the other hand, have hip flexor problems.
Christoph Dabrowski.
The good news: Fandrich returned to the line-up and immediately played the full match. The 31-year-old newcomer is thus once again an alternative for the next league duel at SV Wehen Wiesbaden (02 October). In addition to the six known absentees, Niklas Tarnat, Felix Bastians, Luca Wollschläger and Erolind Krasniqi were four other players missing from the squad.
RevierSport asked head coach Christoph Dabrowski after the match why these players did not travel to Bielefeld: “Tarnat and Bastians have cold symptoms. They were both down with the flu. That’s why they couldn’t play. Wollschläger and Krasniqi, on the other hand, have hip flexor problems.”
Many fans had hoped and cautiously speculated that captain Heber would already be fit again, but he was not available to coach Dabrowski on Thursday either. “With Heber, we have to see how fast he progresses. He has trained individually now. I can’t give a prognosis. We’ll have to wait and see,” explained the football coach.
