Tough task in Bochum

Hertha BSC are on their travels on matchday 10. On Friday night (19.10.12, 18.00 CET) Berlin boss Jos Luhukay and his men visit the Rewirpower-Stadion, where they lock horns with VfL Bochum. The visitors are hoping to extend their unbeaten run to eight games, but Luhukay is under no illusions as to the difficulty of the task facing his side. The Dutchman: „Bochum have a healthy mixture of youth and players with Bundesliga experience. Both aspects will aid VfL this season. Alexander Iashvili and Marcel Maltritz are both leaders. Bochum are not easy top play and have a lot of quality. Despite all that we got there to win!“

Young defender Felix Bastians who sustained a knee injury away to Duisburg a fortnight ago resumed full training this week. The lad is delighted to be back. He said this week: „Such things are hard to predict. My recovery has gone perfectly and I would like to thank our medical staff around Dr. Schleicher. They did a great job, hich has meant that I have been able to train without any problems this week.“ Luhukay knew he would be without the long term-injured Shervin R. Fardi, Lasogga, Beichler, Franz and suspended veteran Kobiashvili. On the good news side, Ronny has recovered from a flu infection and is expected to play a part in Friday night's game.

Pezzoni turns down Hertha

Kevin Pezzoni was on trial at the capital city club for eight days before turning down a performance-related contract. Jos Luhukay was not unduly worried. After all, he sees young John Anthony Brooks as a possible alternative. The coach: „John did a good job for us against 1860 München last time out, so I don' t see any reason to change things in central defence.“ Those words were of course music to the ears of 19 year old Brooks, but he is a grounded young man. He said this week: „I hope I helped the team and the trust bestowed in my by our coach means a lot to me.“

Skipper Peter Niemeyer who used the recent break for international games to have treatment on his injured knee is available for selection. The former Werder Bremen man: „I'm fine. The week-long break was perfect for me. It is nice to see some of the lads coming back to fitness again. It will help us in our preparation for our tough away game on Friday night.“ Although confident of success Niemeyer had a word of warning for his team before they mounted the team coach for Bochum. He said: „It would be a mistzake to underestimate Bochum who have seasoned Bundesliga pros in their ranks. If we put in as much effort in as we did against 1860 our quality will win the day and we can establish ourselves at or near the top of ther table.“

All square

Hertha BSC against VfL Bochum – that fixture has an even history. The teams have met six times in the second division. There were two wins, two draws and two defeats each, tight or what! Bochum coach Andreas Bergmann wants his team to take at least something from Friday's clash. He said this week: „Hertha are favourites for promotion, but we have created plenty of scoring chances and I hope our negative bubble finally bursts.“

Possible line-ups:

VfL Bochum: Luthe - Rothenbach, Maltritz, Sinkiewicz, Chaftar - Kramer - Tasaka, Goretzka, Rzatkowski - Iashvili, Dedic

Hertha BSC: Kraft - Holland, Lustenberger, Brooks, Pekarik - Ndjeng, Kluge, Niemeyer, Ben-Hatira - Ramos, Wagner