Borussia Dortmund manager Niko Kovac has confirmed that Emre Can and Felix Nmecha will miss their visit to Stuttgart on Saturday.
The Black and Yellows play Die Roten in a high-octane Bundesliga clash between the second and third-placed sides in the competition.
Dortmund come into the fixture on the back of a three-game winning run in the league but haven't beaten Stuttgart in their last seven clashes in all competitions, losing five.
Now, it seems like the side has their task cut out without a few players too as Kovac has confirmed skipper Can and midfielder Nmecha to be sidelined from Saturday's daunting fixture.
""Emre Can and Felix Nmecha are out. Filippo is back in training on a limited basis. The rest of the squad have returned from the international break fully fit.""said the Croatian
Can has been ruled out for the remainder of the campaign after suffering an ACL injury against Bayern in February whereas Nmecha is nursing a knee injury that will keep him out until May.
Kovac is now left to choose between Julian Brandt and Carney Chukwuemeka to replace Nmecha in the XI, a decision he said he'd make on the matchday itself.
""We do feel the absence of Felix. We’ve got plenty of good lads in the squad. Jule can play there, but so can Carney, who’s just scored a goal. I’ll make my decision on Saturday.""said Kovac
The Croatian manager also urged his side to up the ante following another scare in their Hamburger win before the international break which saw the visitors go 2-0 up in the first half before Dortmund pulled off an incredible comeback after the break to win 3-2.
Kovac expects that kind of intensity from his side throughout their clash with Stuttgart.
""We really need to step up our game. We need to play for the full 90 minutes the way we did in the second half against HSV.""added the Dortmund manager
Die Borussen are likely to field their best XI again with all their first-team stars returning from their international duties unscathed. This means Gregor Kobel, who was benched by Switzerland in their second friendly, will resume duties between the sticks, whereas Marcel Sabitzer will be hungry for more goals after netting two in two with Austria.
Dortmund predicted line-up vs Stuttgart: Gregor Kobel; Luca Reggiani, Waldemar Anton, Nico Shlotterbeck; Julian Ryerson, Marcel Sabitzer, Jobe Bellingham, Felix Nmecha, Daniel Svensson; Serhou Guirassy, Karim Adeyemi.