Sebastian Kehl confident that Erling Haaland will be fit for Mainz clash

Sebastian Kehl is confident that Erling Haaland will be fully fit and back in the Borussia Dortmund squad for this weekend’s Bundesliga clash against Mainz 05.

Erling Haaland has missed each of Borussia Dortmund’s last three games and was also ruled out of Norway’s World Cup qualifiers due to a thigh injury. He spent a few days in Marbella last week working on his recovery. And there was some good news on Tuesday, as it was revealed that the pain in Haaland’s thigh has subsided. Now Sebastian Kehl has said that he has high hopes of the 21 year old being available for this weekend’s game against Mainz 05.

In an interview with WAZ, Kehl confirmed that Haaland has already started to take part in parts of team training:

"“I have very high hopes that Erling will be back this weekend. He has already participated in parts of the training and will fully rejoin the team soon. That’s why I expect that he will be able to play, which would be very important for us right now.”"

Haaland has scored 11 goals in just eight games for Borussia Dortmund this season. His absence has certainly been felt in the last three games, with the Black and Yellows struggling to put away chances. So the Norwegian international’s return comes at a crucial time, with seven crunch games coming up over a 22-day period.

In addition to Haaland, Borussia Dortmund will also be hoping to have Manuel Akanji in the squad this weekend. Akanji suffered an adductor injury while on international duty last week. But it has been confirmed that his injury is not serious and he could be an option for the Mainz game.

Gio Reyna and Mahmoud Dahoud are also doubts going into this weekend’s game, while Raphael Guerreiro and Youssoufa Moukoko have already been ruled out.