Wednesday 19 November 2014 21:25, UK
Bayern Munich director of sport Matthias Sammer believes his club are equipped to cope with the loss of their captain Philipp Lahm for the next three months.
Lahm has been ruled out of action until February after breaking his right ankle in training on Tuesday.
He adds his name to a growing injury list at the Bavarian club, but Sammer says they still have plenty of valid options to keep his side at the top of the Bundesliga standings.
"We're in such a good position in a sporting sense that this setback is not going to knock us off track," Sammer told Germany's Bild newspaper.
"We mustn't get all sentimental and fall into a state of shock. We've got to move on and be thankful that we had already evaluated all eventualities, even having many injuries, in advance."
Sebastian Rode, who joined from Eintracht Frankfurt in the summer, or Pierrre-Emile Hojbjerg are two of the candidates to fill the midfield role Lahm has primarily occupied over the past 18 months. Xherdan Shaqiri could also find more action in Lahm's absence.
With Bastian Schweinsteiger closing in on a return, coach Pep Guardiola is also expected to have the new Germany captain as an option before Christmas.
Bayern lead the Bundesliga by four points from Wolfsburg while they have already qualified for the last 16 of the Champions League with two group games to spare.
