Dortmund coach Sahin relieved as injury list shortens ahead of Freiburg game

“After a long time there is more good news than bad news regarding injuries,” Sahin told a press conference on Thursday.

FILE PHOTO: Borussia Dortmund coach Nuri Sahin. | Photo Credit: REUTERS

Borussia Dortmund will have several players back from injury for its Bundesliga game against visitor Freiburg on Saturday, with coach Nuri Sahin relieved to have more options again.

The Ruhr valley club has had as many as 10 players injured at some stage, dropping to seventh place, 10 points off leaders Bayern Munich.

But it will now have five players back, with goalkeeper Gregor Kobel as well as Gio Reyna, Julien Duranville, Waldemar Anton and Jamie Bynoe-Gittens.

“After a long time there is more good news than bad news regarding injuries,” Sahin told a press conference on Thursday.

“I don’t expect Gio and Duranville, for example, to be at 100% but the physios have done a great job. So if they are in the squad that means they can play. I’m just happy to be able to take decisions,” he said. “We can now take some nice decisions.”

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Until the international break last week, Dortmund, which travels to Dinamo Zagreb in the Champions League next week, struggled with injuries and failed to win any of its away matches in the league, losing touch with the leading teams.

Dortmund, which has 16 points from 10 games, will be without injured defender Niklas Suele and suspended captain Emre Can.

“I had said we were running on fumes before the international break because we had to play with the same team,” Sahin said. “I think we played with an almost identical lineup in five consecutive games.

“I hope that in the coming weeks we will be able to rotate more,” he said.