Just 13 days after his head operation, Adam Szalai has been training again since Sunday. However, FSV Mainz 05 will be without Dominik Kohr, who suffered a setback in his rehabilitation training.
Mainz 05 started the new year with 21 outfield players and three goalkeepers on Sunday. The Rheinhessen side have so far been spared any new corona cases. Due to the rising numbers, the club plans to test all players and staff members daily in the first week of January before hosting RB Leipzig on Saturday.
“It’s like I’ve been given life all over again “
An unexpected training guest was also seen on the pitch at the Bruchweg Stadium. Adam Szalai played about 45 minutes of the one-and-a-half-hour team training session. The captain of the Hungarian national team had just undergone head surgery on 21 December. “It feels like I’ve been given a new lease on life,” the 34-year-old wrote on Twitter from the hospital.
Wearing a thick grey woolly cap on his head, the striker romped between his 05 team-mates in good spirits on Sunday. “I wasn’t surprised, I was informed the whole time,” said coach Bo Svensson. “And Adam is not a normal guy either. I am happy that he is allowed to do a lot, now we have to implement it responsibly in the next weeks,” Svensson continued.
Also returning to the pitch is Jeremiah St Juste, who underwent shoulder surgery in the autumn. Marcus Ingvartsen, who was limited by groin problems in the first half of the season, only did running laps, which was described as a precautionary measure. Alexander Hack trained with the team but reduced.
Still “a few weeks” to wait for Kohr
Not yet in sight is the comeback of Dominik Kohr, who was out before the winter break due to a muscle and tendon injury in his thigh. “He unfortunately suffered a relapse in the build-up training. That was about three weeks ago, at that time he was actually very far along, we even talked about whether it would be enough for the squad for the game in Frankfurt. Now we have to wait a few more weeks,” Svensson emphasised.
