Stuttgart coach backs captain Undav after slow start into season

VfB Stuttgart coach Sebastian Hoeness has backed forward Deniz Undav ahead of their Champions League opener on Wednesday against Viking Stavanger. German international Undav is yet to find the net in the first three season games which has led to some criticism. But Hoeness would have none of this, saying on Tuesday: "I have to put a stop to this now. This is moving too fast for me." Hoeness said that Undav played a "very big part" in Stuttgart coming fourth last season in the Bundesliga to qualify for the elite event, something "everyone simply needs to be clear about." He said that Undav has repeatedly recorded "extremely important goals and assists" in recent years. The coach acknowledged that new captain Undav has certainly not yet reached his top level yet but that "he hasn't played as catastrophically as some of the reporting about him suggests. "Anyone who starts trying to explain Deniz Undav through statistics has already lost, in my view. He is where he is now because he has followed his own path, has a mind of his own. And that's how you have to reach him," Hoeness said. Hoeness said that Undav understands and reads the game "incredibly well" and always gives him important input - which makes him "always valuable - even when he doesn't have the best actions in the game." He added that everyone at the club is aware that the 30-year-old "is no longer going to run 13 kilometres for us in a game. If you want that, you have to bring in someone else. But we wanted exactly him." Undav suffered from Achilles tendon problems after Friday's Bundesliga win against Cologne but Hoeness said that he has trained normally and will be available for the match against Norwegian debutants Stavanger.