Marcus Berg has been backed as Hamburg’s first choice striker by coach Thorsten Fink.

 

The Swedish hitman has struggled for regular playing time since landing at the northern German club from Groningen in 2009; he also spent the 2010/11 campaign back in Holland on loan at the Philips Stadion with PSV Eindhoven.

 

Now Berg will get the chance to lead the line for Hamburg in the Bundesliga and stake his claim as one of the best strikers in the German top flight.

 

“He is my first option up front”, said Fink.

 

“For Marcus, it is good that he no longer has to compete with Paolo Guerrero and Mladen Petric”, added the former Basel coach.

 

And Berg himself sees more opportunities to impress throughout 2012/13.

 

“With the presence of Paolo and Mladen, two top strikers, I never had many chances”, said the Swede.

 

“If I played poorly once, that had direct consequences. Now I’ll get more opportunities.”

 

Berg is a product of IFK Gothenburg’s youth set-up. He has clocked up 19 caps for Sweden, scoring five times.

 

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