“I’m confident that we will be able to get 11 players out. But we are a few short in order to give some players a rest,” said Jürgen Klopp, who at the end of the first busy week of the season is still forced to improvise. Neven Subotic and Sebastian Kehl are both doubtful for the Bundesliga game at Mainz on Saturday.

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Sebastian Kehl

Subotic and Kehl have been “added to problems we already have,” said Klopp on Thursday. Explaining his injury, Kehl said, “My muscle tightened up.” Even if his substitution at half-time of Tuesday’s Champions League match against Arsenal seemed to have prevented further damage, the midfielder faces a race to get fit for Saturday’s match.

Neven Subotic is also struggling with groin problems, “and in his case it doesn’t look good at all,” revealed Klopp, which means BVB’s injury crisis has gone from bad to worse. Only Lukasz Piszczek could return on Saturday but only if he comes through training on Thursday.

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Neven Subobtics suffered a groin injury against Arsenal.

Mats Hummels has returned to training two days ago, but he will not be risked by Klopp against Mainz, with the same applying to Ilkay Gündogan. “He looks great and is well on the way,” said the Dortmund coach about Gündogan who’s been out for 13 months, adding. “We first want to get him fully fit and in shape again.”