Germany nearly there, Loew shows confidence in Lehmann

A victory in Cardiff would all but guarantee the three-time champions their place at the finals in Switzerland and Austria - probably leaving Ireland and the Czech Republic to battle it out for second place.

 Germany currently head the group with 19 points from seven matches, while the Czechs have 14 and Ireland 13.

 Joachim Loew will be without captain Michael Ballack, who is still carrying the injury that has seen him sidelined for a few weeks already.

 The coach though is hoping that Arsenal goalkeeper Jens Lehmann, who has not played since Germany's 2-1 victory in England on August 22, will be available for Saturday's match.

 "Jens still has a slight injury, but it is not that he is severely handicapped as a result. He will play against Wales," Loew said on Wednesday.

 Lehmann, who has come under pressure after making some mistakes for Arsenal in the Premiership, can use the game against Wales to stake his claim on the number one jersey for his club after reserve keeper Manuel Almunia played in recent matches.

 "I know that I need to show my form all the time," the 37-year-old said ahead of the game against Wales.

 Another question mark hangs over the position of Bayern Munich's Philipp Lahm.

 Against England he successfully replaced Torsten Frings in midfield, but in the training sessions on Wednesday Loew played him on the right side of defence, alongside Per Mertesacker, Real Madrid's Christian Metzelder and Christian Pander, who scored against England in his first match for Germany.

 Loew is expected to play Simon Rolfes and Bastian Schweinsteiger in front of the defence, while Piotr Trochowski and Thomas Hitzlsperger are likely to occupy the two attacking midfield positions.

 For Schweinsteiger, who is not without his critics at Bayern Munich, the game against Wales will be an ideal opportunity to show that he should be given more responsibility at club level.

 Loew wants the youngster to play a more commanding role in midfield and has urged Schweinsteiger to be more dominant.

 Upfront, World Cup top scorer Miroslav Klose will start, with Kevin Kuranyi or Mario Gomez taking the second place in the forward line.

 Gomez, who seemed to be carrying a slight injury, could not participate in the full training session on Wednesday and this could open the door for Kuranyi to start.

DPA