Football
Stephan Uersfeld, Germany correspondent 7y

Dortmund's Rode facing 10 days out; Gotze, Schurrle, Kagawa to return

Borussia Dortmund midfielder Sebastian Rode could be set for a 10-day spell on the sidelines with a thigh injury as Mario Gotze, Andre Schurrle and Shinji Kagawa are all set to return to team training in the "next few days."

Having joined Dortmund from Bayern Munich in a €14 million transfer last summer, Rode struggled to impress in his first season at the club, winning only 893 minutes, spread out over 21 competitive appearances.

Things have looked better for the 26-year-old under new Dortmund coach Peter Bosz during preseason and on Saturday he impressed in the German Super Cup defeat to former club Bayern, although he failed to convert from the spot in the penalty shootout.

However, Rode sustained a thigh injury on Sunday while warming up for a friendly at Erfurt, and he said on Twitter that he will now "miss a few days."

Kicker added that he could miss up to 10 days and so faces a battle to return to full fitness in time for Dortmund's opening Bundesliga match at Wolfsburg on Aug. 19.

Dortmund have been handed an injury boost elsewhere ahead of Saturday's DFB Pokal match at sixth-division club FC Rieslingen-Arlen.

"It's only a matter of days," Dortmund sporting director Michael Zorc told kicker, when asked when injured midfielders Gotze, Schurrle and Kagawa would resume team training.

Defender Omer Toprak, meanwhile, will take part in team training despite fracturing his nose in the 5-2 win at Erfurt and could have to play with a special mask on Saturday.

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