Waldoch blow for Schalke

Schalke skipper Tomasz Waldoch has received another blow in his attempt to win back a regular place in Jupp Heynckes' starting line-up after the Polish defender broke his hand in the 4-1 thrashing of Hamburg at the weekend.

The Schalke stalwart has spent most of the season warming the bench at the ArenaAufSchalke, while his problems with Schalke boss Heynckes fuelled rumours that he could be set to return to former club Bochum in the summer.

The 32-year-old managed to ignore the injury for large parts of Saturday's one-sided encounter with Hamburg and helped his team to their best home performance in some time, which allowed Schalke to climb into fifth place and a Uefa Cup berth.

The Royal-Blues, arch-rivals Borussia Dortmund and Ruhr-valley neighbours Bochum look set to battle it out for Germany's two remaining Uefa Cup spots and the Polish international is now sure to miss Schalke's important visit to second-placed Bayern Munich next weekend, although it remains to be seen for how long he will be sidelined.

Further bad news for the Schalke camp came from Turkish Under-21 keeper Volkan Unlu as the youngster will be sidelined for the next three weeks with a thigh problem.

As regular number one Frank Rost is still recovering after tearing ligaments earlier this season, Heynckes will have to keep faith in 22-year-old Christopher Heimeroth, who was only given his Bundesliga debut on Saturday.