Quarantine instead of comeback: After a three-month injury lay-off, Felix Uduokhai was close to returning, but now a COVID-19 infection is slowing him down again. This means that central defence remains FC Augsburg’s problem position.
As FCA announced on Thursday, Uduokhai had already tested positive at the beginning of the week. The 24-year-old has so far shown no symptoms and is in domestic quarantine, he said. “This is bitter for him and for us. He was just about to join team training,” Markus Weinzierl said. “We could have used him – even more so in our problem position.”
In central defence, Weinzierl recently had to call on an improvised duo of right-back Robert Gumny and youngster Frederik Winther. In the 1-1 draw against Hertha, a mistake by Gumny before the goal was conceded marred the otherwise decent performance of the two substitutes. In the 2:3 loss against Bochum, however, both the 23-year-old Pole and his 20-year-old Danish sidekick cut a poor figure.
At least captain Jeffrey Gouweleeuw is back in training after a Corona infection. The defensive chief will start in Cologne on Friday, provided he comes through the final training well, Weinzierl announced: “We need him, even if it’s suboptimal when you fly to Cologne from your living room with one or two training sessions. “
Final training session sheds light on whether Oxford could be an option
With Reece Oxford, another in-form centre-back is working on a comeback from a thigh injury. “He hasn’t trained with the team all week, but individually. But he makes a good impression, “, Weinzierl said on Thursday afternoon. Only after the final training session could he say whether Oxford would be an option for Cologne. His use would be a question of weighing up the risks. It is possible that the Englishman, who is strong on headers, could at least help with standards in the final phase.
Weinzierl also has a number of question marks outside the defensive centre at the start of the English week. It will be decided at short notice whether Andi Zeqiri (groin blister), Arne Maier (bronchitis) and Mads Pedersen (patella tendon problems) will be available on Friday. Florian Niederlechner is also still plagued with complaints.
“You see how many names we are discussing now. It’s not like I have planning security “, Weinzierl stated. His motto for the end of the year is therefore: “We have to defy the odds and score as many points as we can in the English week. Then we’ll sort it out in the second half of the season. “
