The German top-flight returns this weekend from a two-week break with a Nigerian international set to miss the action
Super Eagles defender Kevin Akpoguma will likely not be available for selection on Saturday when Hoffenheim make the trip to Mainz for their matchday 21 faceoff at Mainz.
Kicker reports that the versatile wing-back did not train with his club teammates on Thursday, fuelling fears that he may not have recovered from the muscle problems he suffered a couple of weeks ago.
Akpoguma went off injured at halftime as Hoffenheim crashed out of the DFB Pokal following a 4-1 home defeat to Freiburg on February 19.
The 26-year-old after that missed his side’s 3-2 defeat to Borussia Dortmund on game week 20 also at the PreZero Arena in Sinsheim.
With Hoffenheim without a win in their last three games, the away fixture against Mainz becomes even more important.
Seventh-placed Die Kraichgauer are three points behind Taiwo Awoniyi’s Union Berlin in fourth, with Freiburg and Leipzig even above Sebastian Hoeneß’s men on the league table.
Akpoguma has featured 17 times for Hoffenheim in the Bundesliga, scoring twice and adding another three assists.
The Neustadt an der Weinstraße-born defender, surprisingly, did not make Nigeria’s squad to the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations in Cameroon.
Super Eagles interim head coach Augustine Eguavoen preferred the right-back duo of Ola Aina and Tyronne Ebuehi instead.