Reitz fighting his way back

Rocco Reitz was one of the high-flyers of pre-season last summer. After overcoming infection with COVID-19, the 19-year-old is now fighting hard to get back into the team.

On Tuesday, the Foals players continued their hard work at the training camp in Klosterpforte with an intensive session that focused on finishing. Along with Manu Koné (knee ligament injury), Tony Jantschke and Joe Scally also missed the session in order to work on their recoveries. Instead of team training, Scally hit the weight room for some individual training while Jantschke completed a less intense running exercise.

Meanwhile, Rocco Reitz made his return to full team training following his infection with COVID-19 at the start of his holiday. He had missed the first few sessions of the camp due to the resulting quarantine. “It feels a bit tougher than usual. I’m still not at full fitness, that’s for sure, but so far my body is coping with the training work well,” reported Reitz, who was one of the standout performers in pre-season last summer and subsequently made two Bundesliga appearances last season before injuries curtailed his progress.

Now, the midfielder wants to fight his way back into the team. “I’m not putting myself under any pressure. I’m just trying to give everything I’ve got. I’ve only trained with the first team a few times so far so I’m waiting to see how the training camp goes and then I’ll set myself new goals based on that,” says Reitz. The 19-year-old could make his first appearance under new coach Adi Hütter on Saturday at 15:30 CEST as the Foals take on FC Metz. “I would definitely be ready to play. But the decision will only be taken at the end of the week.”