Borussia Dortmund's reserves face Viktoria Köln in a top-of-the-table Regional League clash at the tradition-steeped Rote Erde Stadion, where a good attendance is expected, at 14:00 CET on Saturday. Daniel Farke's Black and Yellows currently occupy second spot, three points behind the league leaders from the cathedral city, and will keep the title race wide open if they can pick up a victory.

Our fans are delighted: for the first time in ages the second team will not be playing on the same day as a Bundesliga or Champions League match. That will unfortunately not be the case in the coming weeks when BVB II play their games in hand in Siegen and Oberhausen on 4 and 19 April respectively: Thomas Tuchel's first team will be playing at home to Hamburg and away to AS Monaco on those days.

The BVB youngsters can therefore look forward to a sizeable crowd and good support from the stands when they play host to Köln early on Saturday afternoon. Goalkeeper Hendrik Bonman has taken to Facebook to get the fans in the mood for the game.

Coach Farke has an almost-full squad at his disposal, with only Sören Diekmann sidelined. Whether first-team pair Sven Bender and Nuri Sahin, who are currently training with the U23s as they recover from injury, are included in the squad remains to be seen.

The ticket offices at the Rote Erde will open at 12 CET, with admittance starting at 12:30 CET. Seated tickets cost the usual EUR 10 (discounted price EUR 6), while standing tickets are EUR 6 (discounted price EUR 4). Children up to and including the age of 6 can attend for free. (jv)