Werder Bremen chief Clemens Fritz has explained Naby Keita's ban.

The former Liverpool midfielder has been suspended to the end of the season after refusing to travel with the squad to Bayer Leverkusen last week.

Fritz said: "He is here, training individually. For us, it is now simply a matter of calming down and focusing on the essentials.

"He has apologised, shown understanding - and we believed him. Nevertheless, it was difficult for us and we had to show a certain degree of consistency. And that is what we did."

On Keita's future, he added: "My job is to concentrate on the next games. We'll see what happens from the summer onwards."