08.03.2010

"Mustn't forget where we've come from"

The deserved defeat at Borussia Dortmund is annoying and disappointing. But after the successful run of recent weeks there was always a fear that a setback might occur.

Before yesterday Borussia had won six, drawn five and lost five of their last 16 games since 3 October 2009, the day they lost 1-0 to Dortmund in week 8. In none of these matches, however, were Borussia the inferior team, quite irrespective of the result. Yesterday it was very different, and the fact that this was severely punished by a free-flowing Dortmund side was a bitter pill to swallow. Head coach Michael Frontzeck takes a similar view: "Every defeat hurts, of course, but we simply had a bad day yesterday," he said. "We've been incredibly consistent in the last six months, but these things happen in football."

Mood subdued, but forward-looking

Yesterday's defeat was not without its effect on the players. While the first-team regulars left it at a 30-minute run in the immediate vicinity of the BORUSSIA PARK, the reserves worked diligently on the training ground. But the upbeat mood that is usually prevalent in the Borussia camp was not so much in evidence. Immediately after the final whistle the players were very critical of their own performance.

Meanwhile Frontzeck said: "We'll analyse the game very meticulously and talk about what we did wrong. And then we'll draw a line under it, as in VfL Wolfsburg we face the reigning German champions at the BORUSSIA PARK on Saturday. Taking each as game as it comes has served us very well so far and we aren't going to depart from this strategy just because of one poor performance," he said, outlining the approach for the next few days.

The news from the medical department is all good. None of the players involved yesterday sustained any injuries of note, while Thorben Marx, who has been out of action with an inflammation of the pubic bone for several weeks, is well on the way to recovery. The midfielder is back to almost 80 percent fitness according to the club physiotherapists and was able to do lots of drills with the ball today.