Hertha without Serdar and Selke against Mainz
Hertha BSC trainer Sandro Schwarz revealed on Wednesday that starting midfielder Suat Serdar and substitute striker Davie Selke will likely be unavailable for Friday's night's clash with Mainz due to infections.
Sandro Schwarz divulged at a Wednesday presser that Davie Selke and Suat Serdar had been struggling with a bug this week. The Hertha trainer put their prospects of being available for Friday night's round seven Bundesliga curtain-raiser against FSV Mainz 05 at slim-to-none.
In Serdar, Schwarz loses a starter who has featured in all six of the coach's league XIs. The former Mainz and Schalke midfielder has scored two league goals this season, including a crucial tally in the 2-2 with Leverkusen last weekend. In all likelihood, Serdar will be replaced by another former Mainz player, Jean-Paul Boëtius.
Boëtius has gotten one start for the Charlottenburg side thus far this season, starting alongside Serdar in a 4-1-4-1 in Hertha's 0-1 loss to Dortmund. It's no secret that Schwarz has plans for the Dutch midfielder he himself coached during his time with Mainz. Hertha sporting CEO Fredi Bobic, who was also at the presser, offered up some comments on the 28-year-old.
"He's a player that I've always liked," Bobic noted, "He gave us plenty of heartburn when playing for Mainz when I was still at Frankfurt. He's been improving with us. He brings us some structure with his security on the ball and has brightened up our game in the last two outings when he came on as a sub."