Veh defends Grafite omission

Posted Monday, October 19, 2009 by PA

Wolfsburg coach Armin Veh defended his decision to drop last season's Bundesliga top goalscorer Grafite for Sunday's 2-1 win over Borussia Monchengladbach.

The Brazilian forward was left out of the starting XI for the first time in 15 months, with Obafemi Martins preferred to partner Edin Dzeko up front, but Veh insisted he had made the right choice.

"It is simple: We have three good strikers and I think it is absolutely normal that I swap them around," he said.

Grafite, who had criticised Veh for substituting him in recent matches, took his banishment to the bench professionally.

He came on after just under an hour and accepted the days in which he and Dzeko were the first names on the coach's team sheet are now over.

"It was not a problem at all for me to be on the bench," he said.

"The coach came to me before the game and explained it to me and I took it in a relaxed way and even shared his view.

"The important thing is the team and today we won three points as a team.

"I will now work hard and fight to be in the starting XI next time."

Defender Alexander Madlung and midfielder Christian Gentner scored the goals for the Wolves to take them up to fifth in the Bundesliga ahead of their Champions League clash with Besiktas on Wednesday.