Our reserves have now reached the halfway point of their mid-season preparations ahead of the domestic restart in Verl on 10 February. "Everything has gone according to plan so far," said a satisfied Jan Siewert as he reflected upon the first weeks of the winter break.

One major positive has been the personnel situation, with all the players having come through the programme unscathed aside from a few minor niggles. In addition, Jonas Arweiler and Balint Bajner made their comebacks in the 2-1 defeat by third-tier outfit Fortuna Köln following several months out and have since become permanent fixtures in the team.

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Jan Siewert had taken a conscious decision to find tough friendly opponents in order to gain a clear idea of his team's current performance level under competitive conditions. And the lads very much held their own against their first opponents, especially after the interval when Paterson Chato restored parity. However, good chances to score further goals were squandered.

The next destination was Hamburg, where two matches against Regionalliga Nord opposition – Altona 93 and the HSV U23s – followed within the space of just 18 hours. But despite a comfortable 3-1 victory over bottom club Altona, Siewert was not entirely satisfied: "We should've won by a much higher margin, and the late goal we conceded was totally unnecessary." The BVB goals were scored by Herbert Bockhorn, Philipp Hanke and on-trial Armin Pjetrovic. The 21-year-old centre-back, who featured against Fortuna Köln as well, last played for TuRu Düsseldorf in the Oberliga Niederrhein and is currently without a club. The decision as to whether he will be signed had not been made at the time this report was published.

The lads looked to be lacking freshness in their subsequent 2-0 defeat to Regionalliga Nord leaders HSV. It was also noticeable that the team from the north coast, who restart their league campaign this weekend, were at a much more advanced stage of their preparations. "Precisely because of this," said Jan Siewert, "it was a very useful lesson for us." It clearly highlighted what needs to be worked on before the first competitive match.

The coach will make those final tweaks at a training camp in San Pedro on the Costa Blanca between 2 and 9 February. Beforehand, there will be a friendly meeting with league rivals Rot-Weiss Essen on 31 January.
Udo Stark