Patience a virtue for returning Di Santo
Bremen - SV Werder Bremen striker made his long-awaited return from injury in Monday's 3-1 friendly defeat to MSV Duisburg.
'I need more minutes'
The Grün-Weißen's six-goal leading scorer, who suffered ligament damage in his right knee in training some nine weeks ago, completed 45 minutes at the Schauinslandreisen-Arena, but admits he hasn't reached full match-fitness just yet.
"It was a tough game for me," Di Santo told club website werder.de after the game. "I still need to get more minutes under my belt to build up confidence in my knee, but overall I'm happy to be back on the pitch. The match in Duisburg helped me to get confidence again in my body and find my rhythm. I'm not in any pain. Everything looks good."
As well as the Bremen medical staff, the Argentine's accelerated recovery owes much to his own unwavering plan of action. Di Santo spent the Christmas period in his native Argentina, before easing back into the swing of things at the Green-Whites' winter training camp in Belek, Turkey. The revised goal is now Matchday 18's clash with Hertha Berlin on 1 February. "You can see he still needs time," acknowledged head coach Viktor Skripnik. "But he's definitely on the right track."
