Marco Reus is nearing a return to fitness. But while Peter Stöger did not rule out the midfielder making his comeback against HSV on Saturday, he feels next weekend's trip to Mönchengladbach is a more realistic target. The BVB boss added that Mario Götze will be fit again for the home game with Hamburg, although Raphael Guerreiro is still out injured.

Mario Götze "did a little bit more" in terms of intensity on Wednesday, Peter Stöger said ahead of the afternoon training session on Thursday, adding: "Let's see how he does today." The boss seemed optimistic about the 25-year-old's chances: "The problems are likely to have subsided."

Schmelzer's absence continues

The situation is less rosy for Raphael Guerreiro and Marcel Schmelzer, the two left-backs in the squad. The captain "is doing better", the coach reported, "but there's no chance he'll feature at the weekend". The same goes for Guerreiro, who continues to suffer from muscular problems. "Let's see what happens in the next few days," said Stöger of the Portugal international, who will definitely not be available for the Hamburg match.

Philipp back in training

However, there was good news regarding Maximilian Philipp, who suffered a serious knee injury in the 1-1 draw in Leverkusen at the start of December. "Maxi is doing well considering the circumstances," said Stöger. "But he'll be out a while longer. I look forward to having a player back who will offer us additional options when he returns. He's already itching to get back."

Stöger lauds Reus

Another player yearning to be back is Marco Reus. "I know that he'd like to play. He knows we'd like to have him involved," said Stöger, who is nonetheless erring on the side of caution given the severity of the injury (torn cruciate ligament sustained in the DFB Cup final in May 2017). "We'll make a sensible decision, and Marco will have a major say," announced the coach. "He's training fully and has had no setbacks."

While Stöger was especially lavish in his praise for Reus ("He's one of the few players that can make a major impact on a match based on individual talent, technique, awareness and speed"), he was quick to emphasise: "But I'm cautious. And he is not going to be the saviour who then has to turn everything around for us." It could be that Reus features in the squad for the match with HSV. "But it's also possible that won't happen until next week". (br)