Backcourt player Lena Degenhardt tore the cruciate ligament in her left knee in the cup match against TSV Bayer Leverkusen on Saturday and now faces a long spell on the sidelines.

Lena Degenhardt joined Borussia Dortmund from TuS Metzingen in the summer with big ambitions. Now the 23-year-old right-hander has to put those ambitions aside for the time being, as an MRI examination revealed that she has torn the cruciate ligament in her left knee. "We are fully behind Lena, we are keeping our fingers crossed for her and we hope that she can celebrate her comeback as soon as possible," says sporting director Andreas Kuno.

The confirmation of the feared diagnosis is disappointing for various reasons. In Kuno's words: "This means that our two players in the left-back position, Dana Bleckmann and Lena Degenhardt, will probably be out for the entire season." Bleckmann tore her cruciate ligament in training just before the start of the new season and is already in rehab after a successful operation.

Kuno also sees Degenhardt's injury as problematic because, like Bleckmann, she was earmarked for the interior block in defence. "We have to think about whether to make another recruitment effort. At the moment it's problematic because the season only started a few weeks ago and therefore there are hardly any players looking for a move.''

Nevertheless, management will now assess the options and, if necessary, find a new signing from outside Germany. "Of course, it has to be a good fit. We will now sound out the market and see which option makes best sense. We started doing that at the weekend. Due to the double load with the games in Europe, it is important that we sign a player who can jump in and help us right away," Kuno emphasises.