In addition to the suspended Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Borussia Dortmund will most likely also be without Marco Reus for the home game against Borussia Mönchengladbach on Saturday.

“If nothing extraordinary happens overnight, Marco will not be available,“ said BVB coach Jürgen Klopp on Thursday afternoon. Reus, who is suffering from muscle problems, did a light jogging session on Wednesday, but was still feeling pain, and he’s therefore unlikely to be considered for Bundesliga duties on Saturday.

Despite the likely absence of another creative player, Klopp is confident that he will have enough players left to field a competitive team. “We still have many and good options. Jonas Hofmann, of course, is one, Milos Jojic another,“ said the Dortmund coach.

Klopp is also hopeful that Robert Lewandowski will have recovered from his injury in time for BVB’s Bundesliga clash against Gladbach on Saturday. The Dortmund top scorer, who missed the Freiburg game with strained knee ligaments, will continue his individual training programme on Thursday, and if he comes through practice without any problems he could return to full training on Friday and be included in Saturday’s squad. “Robert knows his body well,” said Klopp. Meaning: if Lewandowski feels fit enough to play, he will make himself available for selection.

Be that as it may, BVB will definitely be without long-term injury absentees Neven Subotic, Sven Bender, Ilkay Gündogan and Jakub Blaszczykowski.