Macedonian international Nikolce Noveski had to be substituted in the 15th minute of today’s game for Mainz because of a thigh injury.

Mainz captain Nikolce Noveski started at left CB during today’s home game against Werder Bremen but only played 15 minutes because of a thigh injury.  Noveski went down and was unable to continue so the Mainz manager brought on Julian Baumgartlinger to take the place of Noveski.  It was still 0:0 at that point but Werder Bremen would go on to collect a 3:1 victory.

The severity of the injury is still unknown at this point.  Thigh injuries are always tricky and the recovery period is different for most players.  Noveski is a tough and durable player so he must have been really hurt to ask for a substitution.  With today’s loss, Mainz remained in 15th place out of 18 teams with only nine points after 11 rounds in the German Bundesliga.  However, two teams below them have a game in hand so they could both overtake Mainz after tomorrow’s games.