Kees van Wonderen wants to see ‘fighting spirit’ and ‘team spirit’ against leader PSV

The Abe Lenstra stadium is completely full on Thursday evening. Kees van Wonderen is looking forward to the poster with PSV, which is heading for the national title. The trainer hopes that the Pompeblêden formation can postpone the title party for a while by getting a result. That must happen without Osame Sahraoui at kick-off. The attacker is not fit enough to start in the starting line-up.

“Osame is still suffering from that blow he received against FC Utrecht. He was able to train a bit yesterday and a little more today. He is there, but it is not yet optimal. He is not going to start. But he can I can bring extra quality as a substitute,” said Van Wonderen, who cannot use Nathan Tjoe-A-On alone. The loaned wing defender is active in the Asian Cup with Indonesia Under 23. “Oliver Braude was still a doubtful case. He got a tap on his knee yesterday, but was able to train today.”

It will be quite a task to beat the Eindhoven team on Thursday. The national champion has only lost once in competition. “They have more quality, but you can compensate for a lot with team spirit and fighting spirit,” says the trainer. “PSV is a team that plays with full intensity, which can put you under full pressure. It will be a great challenge against the future champion. We want to postpone their party for a while, but for that we have to bring out the best in ourselves. “

While PSV can hardly avoid the championship, the Frisians have to do everything they can to get into the left row. “The play-offs is really our goal. It lives in the group. You notice from the way of training that everyone is still focused,” says the coach, who had Isaiah Ahmed of the Under 21 train with us this week. He is not in the selection on Thursday, but he did impress Van Wonderen and the players. “He is young and really coming. He is a central midfielder, a big boy. The other footballers recognize his quality. That is a nice compliment for him.”