Borussia Dortmund head coach Thomas Tuchel says he ishopeful over the fitnessof Ousmane Dembele and Marc Bartra ahead of their clash with Hertha Berlin on Friday night.
Tuchel currently has a massive selection headache following the international break, withAndré Schürrle (medial collateral ligament), Lukasz Piszczek (knee problems), Raphael Guerreiro and Gonzalo Castro (both with muscle fibre tears), Sokratis (strain), Adrian Ramos (muscular problems), Bender (bone marrow oedema), Reus and Subotic (both in fitness training) and Durm (knee operation) areall set to be unavailable as Dortmund look to leapfrog Hertha into second spot in the table.
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However, Tuchel said that he hopes both Dembele and Bartra will be fit enough for the visit of Hertha after picking up ankle and adductor injuries respectively.
"They should both be okay to feature," Tuchel said as he addressed the mediaon Thursday afternoon. "But we are training again tomorrow, and if the last few days have taught us anything, it's that you cannot take anything for granted.
"As things stand he's in the squad," said Tuchel, "but there remains a risk after a long spell out and so few training sessions under his belt."
"Right now, it is questionable whether we will even have 16 senior players available," he added. "We will add some young players to the squad.
"Lukasz Piszczek and Adrian Ramos are out. As it stands, Marc Bartra is available, but we still have to decide whether he will play due to limited training sessions.
"[Pierre-Emerick] Aubameyang missed training for private reasons today but will play."