Eintracht Frankfurt vs Hertha BSC Berlin preview - Niemeyer to retain Hertha place

Posted Wednesday, December 17, 2014 by PA

Peter Niemeyer appears to have done enough to earn his place in the Hertha Berlin side which travels to Eintracht Frankfurt this Wednesday night.

The 31-year-old midfielder took the place of Hajime Hosogai in Berlin's 1-0 win over Borussia Dortmund on Saturday and his fifth start of the season is set to be followed by number six in midweek.

"We know what quality Peter's got and I think he played a really good game against Dortmund," said Hertha coach Jos Luhukay on his club's website.

That should be enough to suggest Niemeyer will keep his place, although the defensive midfielder did not want to take the credit for Saturday's clean sheet.

"It was important that we played well as a team," he said. "We all helped each other out and I was just one small component of what was a really good overall performance from the team.

"I always try to play to my strengths and help the team and what we did against Dortmund should be the benchmark for us which we've got to try to reach again.

"We showed what we are capable of and we're going to have to do that again in Frankfurt."

Bidding to stop them will be Timo Hildebrand, who is set to make his 300th league appearance even though Frankfurt's regular number one Kevin Trapp is now back in full training with the rest of the team.

"Timo is our first choice in goal," said coach Thomas Schaaf. "If there are any other changes to our team, you will just have to wait and see."

Felix Wiedwald, who had been deputising for Trapp until being struck down by glandular fever, is still unavailable.