Schaaf impressed by fringe players

Werder Bremen coach Thomas Schaaf got more than he had bargained for from Thursday night's Europa League clash with Nacional as his experimental side ran out 4-1 winners to extend the club's unbeaten streak to 22 games.

With his team already qualified for the last 32 of the competition, Schaaf left out most of his first-team regulars to take a look at numerous fringe players - and they did not let him down.

"It was important for us to take this opportunity to give some players who have not played much recently, perhaps due to injury, and to bring them up to speed in view of the next few weeks," said Schaaf. "Every one of our players has high expectations and everybody wants to prove themselves."

He added: "I think we have proven that we did not think like some reports claimed before the game - we did care about this match."

However, having made seven changes to his starting XI from last weekend's Bundesliga draw against Wolfsburg, Schaaf now has a selection headache for Sunday's trip to Cologne.

"We are now going to have to sit down and take a very good look at what conclusions we can draw from this game," he added.