Germany captain Frank Dehne has "eaten iron" to get where he is, and still it's not enough.

In German, the term "Eisen gefressen" means "eating iron" and refers to the amount of hard work a person puts in to achieve his goals.

For Dehne, distinctive by his beard and hair tied into a bun, no matter how much iron he eats, he still seems to be on the sidelines.

Indeed, he has been more of an entertainment feature on the substitute's corner, where he leads German cheering squad, rather than on the court during this championship.

But the experienced campaigner, whose relationship with coach Stelian Moculescu is known to be frosty, managed to get more playing time in Germany's 3-1 defeat against Bulgaria and provided more attacking options for his team.

Still, he's resigned to playing second fiddle to youngster Simon Tischer, who is seen as the future of German volleyball while Dehne's days are expected to be shortlived.

"Everytime I seem to have done enough, it seems I'm going backwards," said Dehne, who is a much-respected figure among the German players, and is also the team joker.

In their 3-0 defeat to Italy on Saturday, Dehne only came on when it was too late to effect the outcome and it is understood that he was furious.

But to watch him, it is difficult to see that the man who loves to engage the crowd in cheering on the German team is frustrated at being overlooked, having told German media that "the last two years has been the most difficult for me".

After all, he worked hard for years to become the team's number one play-maker, and then watched his successor simply waltz into the starting line-up.

When asked before the Hiroshima leg if he is confident about his playing chances, Dehne was diplomatic in saying: "I guess so. I hope so. It depends on how Tischer plays. If he plays well then it's difficult.

"Every player is hoping to play but I'm always happy as long as we win."

Dehne even congratulated Tischer on his performances in Fukuoka's Pool B matches, where Germany surprised everyone by beating France and finishing second in the group.

One of the main criticisms of Dehne is his risky play, which, when he's on song, is a boost to his team. But when things don't go as plan, it can be disastrous.

This is one of the reasons Moculescu doesn't "trust" Dehne as his number one setter, though so far, his sometimes deceptive plays has helped his team.

"I don't want other teams to watch us and work us out," says Dehne, who has previously played club volleyball in France and Italy.

Whatever his role in the next two matches in Hiroshima, Dehne hopes that the team's success can help the overall development of volleyball in Germany.

"It's a great step forward for us after what we did in Fukuoka," he said. "We have had some success in the last 12 years but it is not enough to make volleyball attractive to young people because you can't earn money in the sport.

"We have to achieve sustained success to get the ball rolling."

In other words, there's more iron to be eaten.