Dardai plans to start Cordoba alongside Piatek
Never shy about sharing his plans for weekend, Hertha trainer Pal Dardai revealed on Tuesday that he plans a two-striker set with both Krzysztof Piatek and Jhon Cordoba against Augsburg on Saturday.
A string of injuries, however, may affect how well the forwards are serviced.
A brutal February stretch behind them, Germany's "alte Dame" have perhaps their best chance to pick up vital points in the relegation race when the mid-table Fuggerstädter come to town this weekend. Head coach Pal Dardai plans to put his most potent force on the pitch.
A string of injuries, however, may affect how well the forwards are serviced.
Though Krzysztof Piatek picked up a knock late in last weekend's 0-2 loss to Wolfsburg, Dardai assured members of the assembled press corps that the Polish striker trained fully with the team on Tuesday.
"He has a huge blister. It doesn't look nice," Dardai noted, "but he really wanted to train. I don't want to stop him. I'm glad that I have such ambitious strikers."
Use of the plural strikers proved no slip of the tongue. Dardai made clear that he wanted to deploy both Cordoba and Piatek against the FCA on Saturday at the Olympiastadion.
"If Jhon remains healthy, I can tell you now that both he and Krzysztof will start," he noted.
With respect to some of the injuries plaguing the squad, Dardai reported that Marvin Plattenhardt, Jordan Torunarigha, and Javairo Dilrosun all returned to training.
There remains plenty of disconcerting news on the injury front. Sami Khedira and Matheus Cunha did not train and will most likely be unavailable for the coming encounter.
The resurgent Matthew Leckie and newly-acquired "spark-sub" Nemanja Radonjic also remain sidelined. In spite of all of this, Dardai struck an optimistic tone.
"Everyone pulled their weight. Team spirits are high. We want to be more determinative in matches and that's what our training is focused on this week," he concluded.