Dick Lukkien: ‘I refuse to look over the next match’

FOOTBALL – FC Emmen is still seven points away from this season’s big goal: promotion to the Eredivisie. Provided Excelsior does not lose a single point in the next five matches. The P-word is of course frequent, but both the players and Dick Lukkien want to keep the focus on the next game, which is tomorrow.

Jong AZ, the number 12 of the Kitchen Champion Division, comes to visit and that in a sold-out Oude Meerdijk.

Of course Lukkien was asked about the future, because what is the goal from now on: Is that simply promoting or is he also thinking about the championship scale? “We are going for the highest attainable. If you look at where we are now, then we are also obliged to our position. Only I refuse to look over the next match. We play against Jong AZ, which in my opinion is a good team and we’re going to do everything we can to keep the points here, hopefully we can do that in a churning stadium, so I’m calling on everyone again to make as much noise as possible and help us to victory. And if we succeeded, then we look again at the competitors and we continue again,” said the trainer in Rood Wit TV,

Lukkien saw last Monday that Volendam took a point with great pain and effort at Jong PSV, while Excelsior lost 3-0 at Almere City last Friday. His own team also did not play a good game in the last game, last Friday at De Graafschap, but a point was still dragged out of the fire. “I don’t know if we are more stable than our closest competitors, because I don’t see enough matches from FC Volendam and Excelsior for that. But I can say that we are stable. We are good in determination and playing together, actually the whole season As a result, there is great confidence in each other and yes, there may well be a bad match – such as against Almere City and last Friday against De Graafschap – but then we still manage to get a point out of the fire. If we are good, then we also know how to win a lot of games.”

The coach of the Drenthe club can again have Miguel Araujo at his disposal, who, despite the fact that he left training early today, will start in the base. As a result, Keziah Veendorp starts as right back. Metehan Güclü is also there again. The striker starts from the bench.

Michael Brouwer, Keziah Veendorp, Miguel Araujo, Jeroen Veldmate, Lorenzo Burnet, Oussama El Azzouzi, Jari Vlak, Ole Romeny, Rui Mendes, Reda Kharchouch and Jasin-Amin Assehnoun.

ttn-41