Hamburg coach Markus Gisdol has said U.S. international Bobby Wood could finally return to the starting lineup this weekend following his red card in October.
Wood, 24, was sent off in Hamburg's 3-0 loss at Cologne on Oct. 30 for elbowing Dominique Heintz in the stomach.
He was subsequently handed a three-match ban by the German FA, and Gisdol called his actions "inexcusable," but the forward is under consideration for Saturday's trip to Mainz with former Schalke and Tottenham midfielder Lewis Holtby suspended.
"Bobby Wood, Luca Waldschmidt and Aaron Hunt are candidates to replace Lewis Holtby," Gisdol told his prematch news conference. "They have all trained well. It will be a difficult decision."
Hamburg have been slowly turning their season around on the pitch, with two wins and two draws from their last four matches lifting the club from the bottom of the Bundesliga to the relegation playoff spot.
Wood, though, has made only two brief substitute appearances since returning from suspension, with Gisdol preferring to play Austrian midfielder Michael Gregoritsch as the sole striker.
Despite Hamburg's upturn in form, the club's off-field issues have persisted.
At the weekend, Hamburg dismissed CEO Dietmar Beiersdorfer and appointed 68-year-old Heribert Bruchhagen as the new club chief.
Bruchhagen already worked for the Bundesliga club in a similar position during the 1990s, and only earlier this year announced his retirement from all official functions after vacating his seat as CEO at domestic rivals Eintracht Frankfurt.
The club are still looking for a new sporting director, a vacant position since Peter Knabel's dismissal in May, and Bruchhagen said they will not appoint a new man before the end of the upcoming transfer period.
Beiersdorfer, meanwhile, is set to continue working for the club until the end of the year, demoted to the role as sporting director.
Gisdol said he hopes Beiersdorfer will remain at Hamburg into 2017.
"The cooperation with Dietmar Beiersdorfer is still very good," he said. "In our current situation, it would make sense to continue with him. The ideas [for transfers] were not developed yesterday, but already weeks ago. Didi initiated it, and I don't think it would make sense to pass it on to someone else now."
He added that Beiersdorfer "absolutely belongs to us."