With Max Kruse still out of action for at least another fortnight, Branimir Hrgota remains the only striking option for the foals who are severely lacking in firepower after the permanent departure of Luuk De Jong and the two temporary departures of Peniel Mlapa and Amin Younes.

In Gladbach's first competitive game of the season in the cup the Swede of Bosnian-Croatian descent started the season brilliantly grabbing a brace in the fixture.

Hrgota lead the line this past Thursday in Sarajevo as Gladbach came away with a 3-2 win over FK Sarajevo in the Europa league playoff round. He picked up yet another brace but was denied a hat trick through a disallowed goal. The first goal was a simple header at the back post into an empty net while the second was something quite spectacular from outside the box. 

On Sunday, Hrgota lead the line again against Stuttgart in the 1-1 draw at Borussia park. Things just got worse and worse for the twenty one year old who squandered numerous opportunities including missing from five yards out! He did find the net but it was disallowed due to him standing in an offside position. 

Hrgota will again start up top for die Fohlen on Thursday when they play the return leg against Sarajevo at home but only time will tell as to whether he will perform.

Stuttgart was most likely just "one of those games" unfortunately for the exciting prospect and he'll know better than anybody else that he needs to bounce back with a good performance and keep up his early form.

Ultimately, Hrgota will prove useful and get goals for Gladbach in the short term but it will take something special from him to keep his place ahead of Kruse upon his return from kidney stone surgery recovery. In the long term, Hrgota definitely has what it takes to start up top week in week out and has all the correct characteristics for a goalscorer. Three competitive games and four goals this season is most definitely not a bad return for the man who previously only had five goals in his 5 starts and 38 sub appearances. The future looks bright for Branimir Hrgota.