Mertesacker back in Germany fold

Arsenal defender Per Mertesacker is ready to lead the Germany defence after an injury lay-off, according to team manager Oliver Bierhoff.

The centre-back has been sidelined since February after ankle surgery, but was included in Germany’s provisional 27-man squad for Euro 2012 on Monday.

Bierhoff, speaking after Germany trained in Sardinia on Saturday, said he was confident Mertesacker would be fit for the tournament.

“Per is fine. We called him a lot during his injury, met once and we realised that he wants to play at the Euros and wants to be fully fit,” he said.

“He is on the right path, and has worked a lot. The big advantage is when you are injured you are able to work in every area and stay very focused.”

Germany are training without Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich players, who played in the DFB Pokal final on Saturday with Juergen Klopp’s Bundesliga champions winning 5-2.

Bierhoff defended the decision to start the training camp before the end of the season, and said it was vital to have players who were available working together.

“We thought about whether this training camp makes sense. We had to book in advance and we didn’t know that Bayern would be playing against Dortmund in the cup final,” he said.

“Planning in the short term is easy, but not in the long term. We have 12 players here – Dortmund’s players will follow in two days and then we will have 17 or 18 players available.

“We can work with the players and it is more important for us to have them here than missing out and becoming unsure with whether they are training in the right way.”

Germany have been drawn alongside the Netherlands, Denmark and Portugal in Group B.