1. FC Köln has to continue to wait for Mark Uth to return. The attacker suffered a setback in his rehab. A comeback is a long way off.
Mark Uth actually wanted to start again this season at 1. FC Köln after his almost year-long injury break. But after 24 match days there are only seven appearances again. In total, Uth was on the pitch for his team for 256 minutes.
In the first competitive game of the season in the DFB Cup against VfL Osnabrück, he suffered a muscle injury after being substituted on, which forced him to take another break until the end of October. Between the eighth and 16th matchdays, Uth was used seven times, three of them from the start.
Two months instead of two weeks
However, the next setback followed at the beginning of January: in the first test match under new coach Timo Schultz against Rot-Weiss Essen, Uth injured his medial ligament. The FC originally assumed that there was no structural injury and that Uth would be available again in “two to three weeks”.
However, two months have now passed and Uth is still a long way from training on the pitch. On Tuesday, the ten-man completed a half-hour running session in the green belt – that was all the 32-year-old could do.
One thing is now certain: Uth is well behind schedule in his rehabilitation process. A return after the international break is now considered impossible. Because he will not be able to return to team training at the training camp in Algorfa (Spain).
“No specific schedule” with Mark Uth
On Thursday, Thomas Kessler, Head of Licensed Football, confirmed the delayed reintegration process. “Mark suffered a small setback during the course of his rehab, which meant that we couldn’t proceed as we had planned,” said the former goalkeeper.
Meanwhile, Kessler did not want to make a prediction for a return. “We hope that we can get him back into training as quickly as possible. But there is no specific schedule. We have to take it from day to day.”
The question marks for Uth are not getting any smaller at 1. FC Köln. The fact is: After his long period of suffering, the offensive player has now become significantly more sensitive to signals from his body. It therefore does not currently seem impossible that Uth will no longer be on the pitch in the Bundesliga this season. At least the lack of a forecast gives rise to these fears.