Cologne, Germany - Arsenal goalkeeper Jens Lehmann will be between the posts for Germany in their Euro 2008 qualifier against Wales in Cardiff on Saturday. Meanwhile coach Joachim Loew will give the central midfield role to Bayern Munich's Bastian Schweinsteiger.
Loew said Wednesday that Lehmann, 37, who has been absent from the Arsenal side with injury, had now recovered.
"He still has a slight complaint but it does not hamper him too much. He will play," Loew said.
Lehmann had been sidelined since aggravating an Achilles tendon injury in Germany's 2-1 friendly win over England on August 22.
He then complained of an elbow injury which has now cleared up.
Meanwhile without injured captain Michael Ballack or the experienced Torsten Frings and Bernd Schneider in midfield, Loew will turn to 23-year-old Schweinsteiger to pull the strings in midfield.
The Bayern player, who normally plays wide on the left, will get "the leadership role," Loew said.
"With Schneider, Frings and Ballack all out he is one of the most experienced players in midfield. We expect him to show his strength and ability," Loew said.
Schweinsteiger, who has 44 caps, has been tried by Bayern in central midfield in the past without great success.
But he said he was "looking forward to the challenge" in the position for Germany.
"In the middle you are nearly always in the game. You have more ball contact and are involved in more challenges," he said.
Schweinsteiger was considered unfortunate not to have been sent off for a tackle on SV Hamburg's Jerome Boateng in Bayern's 1-1 draw in Hamburg on Sunday.
Instead he was shown a yellow card and immediately substituted by Bayern coach Ottmar Hitzfeld.
"We expect an improvement in performance from the game on Sunday in Hamburg," Loew said.
After a long recovery from a knee injury Schweinsteiger has been showing good form this season where he seems to have benefited from playing alongside new signing Franck Ribery.
Meanwhile Loew still appeared slightly puzzled by the decision by Chelsea to omit Ballack from their squad for the group phase of the Champions League.
"He can't really explain it himself 100 per cent," Loew said after speaking to Ballack, who has not played since April following ankle surgery.
Chelsea said the decision was taken because Ballack would be out of action until at least October, and that he could be added to the squad in January when three changes are permitted.
Ballack has told Loew there had been "a slight setback" to the injury at the weekend, although the player is banking on a comeback sooner than his club doctor.
Loew had said at the start of the week he hoped Ballack would be be available for Euro 2008 qualifiers next month against Ireland and Czech Republic.
Germany lead Group D in Euro 2008 qualifying by five points over Czech Republic.
