Leeds United's Robin Koch reveals Qatar World Cup ambition with Germany

The Leeds United defender had become an international regular before an injury-hit few years at Elland Road.

Koch struggled to establish himself as a first team regular under Marcelo Bielsa due to a succession of knocks that limited appearances, his most recent hip problem seeing him sidelined for over four months at the beginning of the 2021-22 campaign.

He has, though, returned to United's line-up in recent weeks to bolster the defence and - on occasion - midfield.

After Koch's re-emergence in the Premier League he is now eyeing a spot with his national team in Qatar later this year when the World Cup begins in November.

"The national coach [Hansi Flick] and I spoke on the phone several times," Koch told German outlet BILD.

"It's a great motivation for me. Of course I have the goal of returning to the Germany team in the near future. As I said, I am also always in contact with the doctors at the national team.

"I will step on the gas, present myself in the best possible way. Every national player wants to be at the World Cup. Last summer we broke up after the European Championship and said we have to do better. And we want to do that together. But there is still a lot of time until then.

"We have a lot of top defenders. In the end, performance decides, for everyone. I can only influence my performance and I'll do everything I can to do that."

Koch also revealed that he keeps an eye on old team Freiburg in the Bundesliga.

"I'm still in regular contact with a lot of guys, we chat, have FaceTime calls," he added.

"I followed the Freiburg games. I'm happy that the boys are so successful. Many are now probably expecting the slump. But I trust Freiburg to achieve an international place."