"It's tough to watch from the stands or on TV"

Niklas Stark is close to making his comeback. In an interview with Herthabsc.de, the defender spoke about his time on the sidelines and his potential return to action against Eintracht Frankfurt.

Berlin – It’s not possible to say how high the heart rate of Niklas Stark has risen in recent weeks as the injured defender was forced to cross his fingers for his teammates from the stands. Now, it doesn’t matter, as the young German faces a potential comeback from a calf injury this Sunday against Eintracht Frankfurt. Stark spoke about a return, the games he has missed and the lessons to be learned from last week’s Europa League elimination.

Hertha: Nik you have said before you’re not the most patient man in the world and that it’s not easy to watch a game from the stands. How much did it hurt to miss the games with Athletic and FC Köln – two far from trivial fixtures?

Niklas Stark: I already had my tantrum when I realized I would be out for at least three games. I missed the Gladbach game too. It’s tougher to watch a game you lose from the ground or on tv too. Everything went us in the first twenty minutes against Gladbach. The boys came back well after that and tried to get a draw from the game. The first half in Bilbao was so good but we should not have lost that game. But we can’t keep looking back, we are out and obviously disappointed. It was more important that we struck back in Cologne, and won confidently. It stops nasty things coming into the team from outside.

Hertha: Pal Dardai has said in the last few days just how important the Europa League has been for the whole teams as well as the new players to collect new experiences. What do you take from these games?

Stark: We are always developing as a team, it’s a constant process – and games against teams on an international stage with different styles of play and tactical strengths. Hopefully we can show in the future how much we have improved following this campaign, even if it’s still annoying now. But the games gave our young players a chance to show themselves. I think they did very well.

Hertha: The calf injury is all healed. You are back in training on Wednesday. Will the game on Sunday come too early for you?

Stark: I was not out for too long, and I was training individually on the pitch after the Gladbach game. Hopefully I will be able to make the squad for the Frankfurt game, but that is entirely the decision of the manager.

Stark: Ich war ja nicht so lange raus, habe nach dem Spiel gegen Gladbach schon wieder individuell auf dem Rasen gearbeitet. Ich hoffe sehr, dass ich gegen Frankfurt wieder im Kader stehe, aber natürlich ist das die Entscheidung des Trainers.

Niklas Stark is close to making his comeback. In an interview with Herthabsc.de, the defender spoke about his time on the sidelines and his potential return to action against Eintracht Frankfurt.

Berlin – It’s not possible to say how high the heart rate of Niklas Stark has risen in recent weeks as the injured defender was forced to cross his fingers for his teammates from the stands. Now, it doesn’t matter, as the young German faces a potential comeback from a calf injury this Sunday against Eintracht Frankfurt. Stark spoke about a return, the games he has missed and the lessons to be learned from last week’s Europa League elimination.

Hertha: Nik you have said before you’re not the most patient man in the world and that it’s not easy to watch a game from the stands. How much did it hurt to miss the games with Athletic and FC Köln – two far from trivial fixtures?

Niklas Stark: I already had my tantrum when I realized I would be out for at least three games. I missed the Gladbach game too. It’s tougher to watch a game you lose from the ground or on tv too. Everything went us in the first twenty minutes against Gladbach. The boys came back well after that and tried to get a draw from the game. The first half in Bilbao was so good but we should not have lost that game. But we can’t keep looking back, we are out and obviously disappointed. It was more important that we struck back in Cologne, and won confidently. It stops nasty things coming into the team from outside.

Hertha: Pal Dardai has said in the last few days just how important the Europa League has been for the whole teams as well as the new players to collect new experiences. What do you take from these games?

Stark: We are always developing as a team, it’s a constant process – and games against teams on an international stage with different styles of play and tactical strengths. Hopefully we can show in the future how much we have improved following this campaign, even if it’s still annoying now. But the games gave our young players a chance to show themselves. I think they did very well.

Hertha: The calf injury is all healed. You are back in training on Wednesday. Will the game on Sunday come too early for you?

Stark: I was not out for too long, and I was training individually on the pitch after the Gladbach game. Hopefully I will be able to make the squad for the Frankfurt game, but that is entirely the decision of the manager.

Hertha: Pal Dardai has said in the last few days just how important the Europa League has been for the whole teams as well as the new players to collect new experiences. What do you take from these games?

Stark: We are always developing as a team, it’s a constant process – and games against teams on an international stage with different styles of play and tactical strengths. Hopefully we can show in the future how much we have improved following this campaign, even if it’s still annoying now. But the games gave our young players a chance to show themselves. I think they did very well.

Hertha: The calf injury is all healed. You are back in training on Wednesday. Will the game on Sunday come too early for you?

Stark: I was not out for too long, and I was training individually on the pitch after the Gladbach game. Hopefully I will be able to make the squad for the Frankfurt game, but that is entirely the decision of the manager.