Uth back in full team training "without pressure"
In a personnel update released this morning, Bundesliga side 1. FC Köln revealed that talismanic hometown attacker Mark Uth was finally back in full team training.
| Mark Uth. | Photo: Sandro Halank, Wikimedia Commons, CC-BY-SA 4.0 |
In his absence, Geißböcke trainer Steffen Baumgart has tried various solutions. Deployments for Ondrej Duda and even squad captain Jonas Hector (ordinarily a fullback) have yielded mixed results. Croatian offensive all-rounder Dejan Ljubicic, on the other hand, has largely found success there.
Ljucicic's success, along with the nature of Uth's injury, left Baumgart stressing on Monday that the 31-year-old's return would not be rushed. The Köln gaffer went so far as to reveal that he would only introduce Uth gradually into game, saying that "15-20 minute shifts" would come first.
Whether Uth might get some playing time this weekend against Dortmund remains to be seen. Baumgart seemed to suggest that the upcoming fixture might come too soon.
"There's no pressure here," Baumgart emphasized, "No is forced to walk wounded here. After all, he needs to remain healthy in the long-term."
"He remains a very important component of our offense," Baumgart also noted, "No one has anything to gain from him placing too much pressure on himself and then having to drop out again. He comes back into the squad only when he's fully fit for action."
(1/2) ℹ️ #effzeh-Personal-Update:
— 1. FC Köln (@fckoeln) September 26, 2022
👉🏽 Mark Uth ist wieder komplett im Mannschaftstraining.
👉🏽 Tim Lemperle ist von der Nationalmannschaft abgereist. Er fällt mit einer Sprunggelenksverletzung vorerst aus.
👉🏽 Ebenfalls abgereist ist Jonas Urbig, der krank pausieren muss. pic.twitter.com/MCGe8XiH4l