Schalke sporting director Rouven Schroder has defended Sepp van den Berg after his ill-fated debut for the club.

The Liverpool loanee made a mistake to allow Stuttgart to score in the 1-1 draw at Mercedes-Benz Arena.

Speaking to Sky Deutschland, Schroder said: "What matters is what he learns from it. After the game he was incredibly pissed off. That didn't surprise me, because it was clear from the interviews how ambitious he is.

"He's a Under-21 international in the Netherlands, trained with the stars at Liverpool and started over 30 games at Preston North End in England's second division. I was - albeit not successful - central defender too.

"If you make a mistake there, it has a high consequence. We have to stop saying after a game: he's not suitable for the Bundesliga."