Head coach Roger Schmidt expects to have a "fatter" selection at his disposal Saturday afternoon against FC Utrecht than in recent weeks. Cody Gakpo, Noni Madueke and Jordan Teze have trained fully with the group in recent days. Philipp Max is still struggling with the after-effects of a corona-infection. His availability is still uncertain.
Return
"Cody, Noni, Jordan and Philipp trained again this week and may also be employable tomorrow," Schmidt said during his preview of the match. He expects his team to have to fight hard for a three-peat. "FC Utrecht is doing well this season against the good teams in the league and won against Ajax and Feyenoord, for example. That means we are warned. At the same time, we have played at a good level in recent games. We respect the opponent, but we are not afraid. We believe in ourselves."
Options
Whether any of the returned players will be in the starting lineup immediately, Schmidt could not yet say. "Today we have the last training before the game. We can then determine what the players can handle and how we can best integrate them into the team's play. But Jordan, Cody and Noni are physically capable of playing up." For Max, the same is not yet true. "Because of the coronavirus, he's weakened a bit. We'll see how he's doing today and whether it's wise to put him in as early as tomorrow."
"We have to accept it"
Schmidt then looked back at last Sunday's setback. After the draw against sc Heerenveen, the Head Coach was bitterly disappointed. "We deserved more. We were creative in attack and held the ball well. The players could also find each other well on the pitch and because of that we created a lot of chances. It is then annoying that the balls do not go in. We have to accept that in the end it was not good enough. We learned from it and now we have to focus on the next step."
Injured
Eran Zahavi and Maximiliano Romero are not yet fit. "I expect Romero to be able to play again before Christmas," said the Head Coach. Zahavi's rehabilitation is taking longer. "I can't say exactly when he will return, but probably not this year."