Torsten Frings and Claudio Pizarro available for VfL Bochum

After being sliced apart mid-week by Panathinaikos in the Champions League, the Green-Whites visit VfL Bochum with tension in the air. Last weekends 5-1 victory over the Berliners is a distant memory and the club is in a nasty spot, with director Klaus Allofs calling the squad gutless." A constant at Werder for the last decade, those comments ripped through the club and were understood the changes will lay ahead.

For the match Torsten Frings and Claudio Pizarro will be available but after a brief return to the pitch, Clemens Fritz, is injured again. On his absence Thomas Schaaf said:

"He'll miss the match on Saturday. Clemens suffered a slight muscle sinew tear against Athens during the week. Thankfully the problem is not in the same place as the injury he had last week. He won't be available to us for at least a fortnight. We'll have to wait and see exactly how long it takes."

Stating the obvious, he went onto say of the match that Werder will be looking to "return to winning ways."

In rehashing the calamitous mid-week performance he said:

"We simply weren’t aggressive enough against Panathinaikos but we can’t afford to let that continue to play on our minds and cause us to be anxious on the pitch. In Bochum we will need to approach the challenge determinedly."

Ok, time for a morsel of editorial commentary. They were not aggressive at all and played like starlets who cared little of those of us who support the club. And yes for Bochum, you will need to play with resolve as they will. They might be near the bottom of the table but they will not give in as evidenced by last weeks draw against BVB.

Bochum's Swiss manager Marcel Koller was cordial in describing Werder's recent play:

“Even if their sporting director struck some harsh tones, Werder will not turn everything topsy-turvy now. In my opinion they did not act as bad as the result indicates. Ahead of the first goal, Athens had hardly any chance. One has to fight against Werder. Otherwise they score goals easily as they have demonstrated numerous times.”

For the match they are faced with a series of injuries, which he noted:

“Slawo Freier (Paul Freier) will be absent due to the fifth yellow card and Oli Schröder partook in a light running training today but he discontinued after only one lap on the training ground for problems with his adductors. Mimoun (Mimoun Azaouagh) told me already yesterday that he was plagued by muscle problems and today it was worse." Along with Oliver Schröder and Mimoun Azaouagh , Sinan Kaloğlu and Marcin Mięciel are questionable for the match.