HSV can’t afford too many more draws. Just 2 points separate Die Rothosen,  who sit 2nd in the table on 46 points and are in one of 2 guaranteed CL spots from the Bundesliga, from Leverkusen, Schalke and Bremen who all sit on 44 points. I think it would be an interesting exercise to look at the CL chase and compare those 4 clubs remaining schedules. . .

Player updates:

Joris Mathijsen sustained a hand injury during the Wolfsburg match that could have been a lot worse than it turned out to be, I guess. Wolfburg striker Grafite appeared to stomp on his hand in the incident which saw both players get sent off on Saturday. Team doctors diagnosed a ruptured artery(?!–STOP. TIME OUT. I am no doctor and I don’t play one on TV, but I think we are victims of a bad translation here. If Mathijsen had a ruptured artery in his hand, he would have had surgery and such, and would be out for a while. I am guessing the author of the article meant “blood vessel”, not artery) but the injury is not keeping him from traveling with the Dutch national team for this week’s friendly with Austria in Vienna (he’ll be playing with some kind of cast).

Collin Benjamin is back with team, returning from Namibia following the sudden death of his father. He traveled with the side to Wolfsburg but did not play.

Some good news: Juan Pablo Sorin returned to training about 10 days ago (just prior to the Dortmund match). He has been on the shelf since early summer with an infection in his surgically repaired knee. Huub says Sorin needs to regain his fitness and he’s ready to play him.

Romeo Castelen is still recovering from arthroscopic knee surgery. He will be out a minimum of 4 more weeks. 

And Thimothee Atouba is back in HSV’s good graces, having played in every match since the last UEFA Cup match versus Leverkusen. You may recall that Atouba was AWOL following Cameroon’s defeat in the African Cup of Nations final against Egypt.

And lastly, it wouldn’t be an HSV post without some kind of news on the managerial search. As noted over the weekend by faithful reader Diana, Slaven Bilic has turned down Hamburg’s offer to be the next manager and is renegotiating a contract extension with the Croatian FA to see them through the World Cup in 2010. I knew it was too good to be true. Herr Ruten. Paging Herr Fred Ruten. . .