Final week of preparation

Hertha have completed their second training camp and now are training again back at Schenckendorff, with their focus fully on the cup game against Braunschweig.

The team have returned to the capital! After the Hertha players completed their second pre-season training camp in Schladming, and enjoyed a Sunday off, they have now resumed their preparation for their game against Braunschweig in the DFB-Pokal next Monday. “I am satisfied. We have trained well and I have seen many positives so I can’t wait to get started,” said a chirpy Pál Dárdai. “But everything we have worked on in training we need to show in the Bundesliga.  It is not possible yet to estimate exactly where we stand and we have to be realistic. But we are in a good way right now.”

In addition to the already missing Davie Selke, Vladimir Darida, Peter Pekarik and Mathew Leckie, Florian Baak sat out due to a slight knee injury he picked up during the U23s game in Meuselwitz. Meanwhile, Fabian Lustenberger and Per Skjelbred are training with fitness coach Hendrik Vieth. The rest of the squad trained hard on the Schenckendorff pitches, with the focus similiar to last week's in Schladming. “You have to be fit to be able to press high up the pitch. You need to be fresh and alert so we can hit the ground running,” said Pál Dárdai, adding: “We might reduce our training intensity a little. We have a useful game cominmg up on Wednesday; Halle won on the weekend and for us it is about players cementing a regular spot in the team. We have controlled our preparation in order for us to be fully fit.”

The Blue-Whites have a double dose of training on Tuesday (10:00 and 16:00 CEST), before our final friendly against Halle on Wednesday (16:00 CEST) at the training ground. “We will still experiment with some players, but others will get a full 90 minutes because we have to be fully fit for the game against Braunschweig,” said Dárdai.