German first division club St. Pauli is so short on healthy defenders it will include press officer Hauke Brueckner in its squad for Saturday's game against Hannover 96.

The 30-year-old Brueckner, who plays for the club's reserve team and played 10 second division games in 2002-03, received a call from Coach Holger Stanislawski who told him to turn up at training “in one hour.”

"When I walked into the locker room with my bag, the boys were staring at me, not really believing it,” Brueckner said. "They did crack some jokes but I know them well and after that everything was good."