Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is eagerly anticipating the return ofteammate Marco Reus to the Borussia Dortmund starting line-up, according toBundesliga.com.
Reus is yet to appear this season after a torn adductor muscle injury kept him out of Euro 2016.
He has been back in training this week ahead of the team's derby against Schalke, but it does not look like he will be match fit for Saturday's clash.
But even having Reus back in and around the camp has been a massive boost to the team according to Aubameyang.
"It's a good sign that he's back training again, we need Marco.I sent him a message not long ago, telling him to keep believing in himself. I also told him personally how important his return is for the whole team."
Reus last pulled on the black and yellow shirt back in May during Borussia Dortmund's cup final defeat to Bayern Munich, but has not kicked a ball since.
Thomas Tuchel's side sit sixth after a mixed start to the Bundesliga season and are six points off of Bayern Munich at the summit. They have lost two of their opening eight games and sit behind the likes of Red Bull Leipzig, Hertha Berlin, Hoffenheim and Koln.
Their opponents in this weekend's highly anticipated derby sit 14th but Dortmund have not won in the Bundesliga since the 23rd September when they beat Freiburg 3-1 and will hope to end a run of one win in their last six games.