Borussia Mönchengladbach sporting director Roland Virkus expresses frustration at Ipswich Town fielding Under-21s side in friendly

Borussia Mönchengladbach sporting director Roland Virkus has expressed his frustration at Ipswich Town fielding an Under-21s side in today’s friendly, stating that the decision was ‘incredibly disappointing’.

The Blues announced last night that the club’s Under-21s players will face Die Fohlen in Germany to ‘allow the majority of Kieran McKenna’s squad to play significant minutes as a unit’ when they face Hoffenheim in Kufstein tomorrow (12.30pm BST).

Goalkeeper Cieran Slicker was the only player in Town’s starting XI who has played any first-team minutes, as the Blues fell to a 3-1 defeat.

“We’ve had a great training camp and were hoping to round the week off with a friendly against strong English opposition,” Virkus told the German side’s social media.

“That Ipswich have now gone against our contractual agreement due to personnel issues is incredibly disappointing and has left us very frustrated.

“Unfortunately, we were unable to find an alternate friendly opponent at short notice, so we have no choice but to try and make the best out of the situation.”

The plan was for Town to field two senior sides for their two games in as many days in Germany, but boss McKenna revealed that many players are suffering with injuries following his side’s 2-1 defeat to Fortuna Düsseldorf at Portman Road on Saturday.

Mönchengladbach, whose Bundesliga campaign starts on Friday, August 23, named a strong line-up.