Interview with Boris Vukcevic

He underwent an operation in the summer, and thus missed pre-season and the start of the current campaign. Now, however, he is back to full training with the first team and raring to go. Achtzehn99.de caught up with him to ask him about his injury absence and how his prospects of playing are looking.

Boris, you suffered a fractured fibula at the end of last season. That must have been a painful experience.

At the time, it didn't hurt that much. But that was because I was probably still in shock.

Was that your first long-term injury?

Yes. There have been plenty of other injuries, but that was the longest and most serious by far. I'm glad to be fit again.

How did you deal with it?

You can't think that you're beaten by injury. I knew that I would recover, step by step. I received a lot of help from friends and colleagues, and that's also really important.

How did it feel, playing every week to suddenly being forced to watch from the sidelines?

It was tough. Every player wants to play, and if you see your teammates in games or on the training ground, it does hurt a little that you can't join in. I find watching football doesn't give me half as much pleasure as playing it does.

You were in the squad for the cup game against Köln on Tuesday. How far away from a return to league action are you?

I'm not yet back to 100%, I still need some time. But I'm getting fitter every day, and I'm just delighted to be able to join in training again. I'm obviously hoping to be picked soon. 90 minutes would be too much for me right now, but I should be back in competitive action in the very near future.

Holger Stanislawski is a manger who likes to rotate his squad, especially up front. That must be a great to help to you, considering you can play in different positions.

Firstly, it does the whole team a lot of good, because everyone gets a chance and it breeds healthy competition for every position. And for me it's great as well. I'm used to playing in different positions, and I'm used to the system now as well.

Results in the Bundesliga this season have been very unpredictable. Why do you think that is?

I think it's always been like that. We have a very strong and competitive league, and winning games in this division is never easy. But that also means there's a chance for clubs like us to compete at the top of the league.

You made your Bundesliga in the Arena auf Schalke. Do you still remember it?

Yes of course. We won 3-2, and Carlos Eduardo scored an amazing free-kick. It was a fantastic experience to play in front of such a great crowd and in a great stadium like that.