Before the derby, Steffen Baumgart spoke about the current low form of 1. FC Köln. The coach sees the personnel situation as a main reason behind the currently missing points.

Based on the 5-2 defeat in the derby against Borussia Mönchengladbach, Cologne have only won one of their last five league games. Accordingly, the situation before the next derby against Bayer Leverkusen on Wednesday evening is a bit bleaker than it was a few weeks ago.

The Effzeh currently greets from twelfth place in the table. That sounds - especially in view of the early and surprising development in the pre-season - still quite harmless. However, it is only six points away from the relegation place. But what is rightly more in focus: the current low form.

Steffen Baumgart has an explanation for this (via kicker): "It's not about whether the battery is empty. It's about having to replace people who cannot be replaced."

The Cologne coach blames the sometimes very tense personnel situation for the current difficulties. Most recently he had to do without several regular players and cope with one or the other failure from the second row.

"We're not getting any continuity at the moment," Baumgart continued. "We no longer have the breadth in the squad, we can't top it up the way we would like."

An example: Timo Hübers will not return to the pitch against Leverkusen either. The coach explained that the centre-back was still "tired and broken". In addition, he still has to endure the consequences of a full horse kiss. You could see in training that "it won't work". One bright spot is the return of Jeff Chabot to replace him.

Despite all the current complications, Baumgart doesn't want to lose optimism: "I'm very happy to be working with these guys." In the two remaining games before the World Cup break, they will "put everything out again and go full throttle".

This article was originally published on 90min.com/de as Baumgart explains the Cologne form low: Injured players "who cannot be replaced".