It was becoming one of those recurring nightmares for Borussia Mönchengladbach, who woke up with a sweat after Matchday 20 to realise, thankfully, it was no more than that.

Back to winning ways

The Foals started the season with five straight defeats, a run of results which led to Lucien Favre tendering his resignation. Little did they know back then that a metamorphosis was about to take place. Andre Schubert was handed the reins and asked to lead the club out of a quandary while a permanent replacement for the Swiss could be found.

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Without a win since the end of November, Rudnevs was restored to the first-team roster after spending the first half of the campaign in the reserves. "Players always have a chance to break back in," said Labbadia. "This just shows how quickly it can happen."

Rudnevs took the olive branch extended to him and Labbadia now hopes the rest of his side can do the same, equally fast, and banish the spectre of relegation before it arrives and gives them a nightmare to deal with.

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