Borussia Dortmund vs Krasnodar FK preview - Borussia Dortmund will be without Marco Reus against Krasnodor

Posted Thursday, September 17, 2015 by PA

Borussia Dortmund will bid to maintain their 100 per cent start to the season without midfielder Marco Reus in their opening Europa League group game against Krasnodar at the Westfalenstadion.

Germany international Reus missed Sunday's 4-2 win at Hannover due to a hairline fracture of his toe and although he has started running again is not scheduled to return to training until Friday.

But head coach Thomas Tuchel confirmed Adnan Januzaj, who stepped off the bench to make his Dortmund debut at the weekend after arriving on loan from Manchester United at the end of last month, is very much in his plans.

"He is absolutely an option," Tuchel told a press conference ahead of the Group C clash. "We are very pleased with the way Adnan has arrived here.

"Everyday the 20-year-old brings a smile to training and has immediately integrated into the group.

"His talent is obvious. We trust him. He has very quickly become a very valuable member of our squad."

Tuchel is expected to rotate his squad and also confirmed goalkeeper Roman Weidenfeller will make his first appearance of the season in preference to Roman Burki.

Colombian forward Adrian Ramos and Poland international defender Lukasz Piszczek are back in contention after returning to training this week following thigh strains.

But Tuchel is still without left-back Erik Durm (knee) and Turkey international midfielder Nuri Sahin, who is still recovering from a long-term abductor injury.

Dortmund, currently top the Bundesliga following four successive league wins, are chasing a 10th straight victory in all competitions having previously seen off Wolfsberger and Odd Grenland in their Europa League qualifiers.

Throw in a recent German Cup win at Chemnitzer and Dortmund have made their best ever start to a season, scoring 34 goals along the way with strikers Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Henrikh Mkhitaryan already on nine each in all competitions.

Krasnodar warmed up for the trip by beating Dynamo Moscow 4-0 on Sunday for their first home league win of the season.

Oleg Kononov's side, currently sixth in the Russian top flight and only founded in 2008, have also won through two Europa League qualifiers, overcoming Slovan Bratislava (5-3 on aggregate) and HJK Helsinki (5-1).

Kononov must decide whether to retain goalkeeper Andrei Sinitsyn, who made his first appearance of the season against Dynamo Moscow, or recall Andriy Dykan.

Defender Vitali Kaleshin missed out on Sunday through injury, so Artur Jedrzejczyk could resume at right-back, while Brazilian playmaker Joaozinho may return to action. He fractured a shin in March and was an unused substitute at the weekend.