FCK starts to prepare the second half of the season: injury chaos and comeback hope!

On January 2, 2025, the 1. FC Kaiserslautern started preparing for the second half of the season in cold temperatures. The training session took place at the Betze, with three players missing due to illnesses. However, these players should fly to the training camp in Malta on Friday.

A central topic is Ragnar Ache, who suffered a calf injury at the end of November and is not yet fully operational again. According to FCK managing director Thomas Hengen, Ache works for a comeback in two weeks. In Malta he will do parts of the team training and work with a rehabilitation trainer on his fitness. In the course of scheduling, Ache could be available again on the second half of the season against SSV Ulm on January 18th.

other players and test games

In addition, Boris Tomiak, Daisuke Yokota and Erik Wekesser will travel to the training camp, even though they missed the opening unit. Jean Zimmer and Philipp Klement, on the other hand, returned to team training after injuries two weeks ago and also fly to Malta. However, Hendrick Zuck, Avdo Spahic and Kenny Redondo are still missing because of their respective injuries.

As part of the preparation, two test games are planned: The first against the Slovenian first division club NK Bravo will take place on Malta on January 8, 2025 at 4:00 p.m. On January 11th there will be another test game against the Luxembourg first division Program Niederkorn, which will take place at 4:00 p.m. in 4th place at the Fritz-Walter Stadium.

As already mentioned, coach Friedhelm Funkel announced that Ache has not returned to team training after a muscular injury he suffered in the game against Hanover. It is believed that it is a muscle fiber tear, but there is still a precise diagnosis. As a result, Ache will be canceled in the home game against Fortuna Düsseldorf on March 30th. According to Funkel

Currently the 1. FC Kaiserslautern is on the ups and was able to win a 1-1 draw against Hannover 96 in the last game, which means that the team remains without defeat in the third game in a row. Kenny Prince Redondo scored the first goal for Kaiserslautern before Andreas Voglsammer for Hanover. In added time, the Lauterer had the opportunity to win when Tobias Raschl hit the crossbar.