Ajax will have to do without Donny van de Beek and Noussair Mazraoui against sc Heerenveen on Saturday. Erik ten Hag revealed this during the press conference. Dusan Tadic will most likely be available.
Van de Beek recently injured his thigh during a training and thus missed the crucial Champions League play-off game against APOEL, as well as the Dutch national team’s interlands against Germany and Estonia. “We’re taking it day by day and are trying to go as quickly as possible”, said Erik ten Hag. “But we don’t want hi mto have a relapse, either. We’re being careful. He won’t play tomorrow. So we’re working towards Tuesday.”
Ajax’s first Champions League group match takes place in four days, against Lille. What can Van de Beek do at this point? “He’s able to do a lot, but hasn’t re-joined the team trainings yet.”
Muscular injury Mazraoui
Mazraoui sustained an injury during an interland against Mali with the Moroccan Under 23s team. “He returned with a muscular problem”, clarifies Ten Hag. “We hope that it will resolve itself soon. And I think it will.” Last to be discussed was Dusan Tadic, who had to miss out on Serbia’s last interland. “He trained yesterday and I expect he’ll bet here tomorrow”, said Ten Hag about his captain.
Siem de Jong in selection
There is good news for Siem de Jong. The veteran will be in the selection for the first time in a long time. He’s filling the void left by Dani de Wit’s departure to AZ. “Siem is a player who can fulfill that role well”, according to Ten Hag. “He has some physical discomfort, therefore he’s a bit behind, but we’ve trained him back to a better level recently.”
To conclude, the coach discussed the bumping up of Noa Lang, Jurgen Ekkelenkamp, Ryan Gravenberch and Sergino Dest to the A selection. “Normally, we’d do that at the beginning of the season”, started Ten Hag. “But as I’ve said before: we need to get through the first block. Qualifying for the Champions League was important. The guys did well in the pre-season. Actually, not only in the pre-season, but in the past year. They’ve earned it. We believe they can play a role on the first team.”