Despite the international break, Telstar will play against leader FC Emmen this afternoon. The White Lions will not conform to the team from Drenthe. “We are going to play our own game, so as attacking as possible”, trainer Andries Jonker looks ahead.
According to Jonker, things are going in the right direction in terms of injuries. “As far as we are concerned, most of the suffering seems to have been suffered. It is no longer as much as against De Graafschap. There were fifteen players absent at the time.” This afternoon, five or six players will not be available for medical reasons. “That is still relatively much, but it is going in the right direction,” said Jonker. One of the missing players is Rein Smit.
The same way of playing
Telstar has played against leaders several times this season with varying results. Like against Young AZ (with Louis van Gaal)† Volendam and PSV (top of the Premier League). “Each time we played our own game, so as offensively as possible and for the win. That led to a victory against Jong AZ and we narrowly lost against PSV and Volendam: 2-1. That’s how we will tackle it today, we do nothing different than normal,” explains Jonker.
On Thursday it was announced that Rashaan Fernandes will play in the Eredivisie next season at Go Ahead Eagles. Once again Telstar appears to be a springboard. Earlier Ilias Bronkhorst (NEC), Benaissa Benamar (FC Utrecht) and Reda Kharchouch (Sparta) made the transition to the highest level. “Rashaan is a good example of a boy who has revived his career. He came in like a broken flower and had suffered a lot of injuries.”
“He had few games in his legs and lasted twenty minutes in the first division,” continues Jonker. “For years he was known as one of the greatest talents in the Feyenoord youth. We then got to work and now he is a player who comes into play in a lot of positions. He can easily handle ninety minutes and has a lot of confidence We are all proud that he has made this step,” concludes Jonker.
This afternoon Telstar will play against Emmen in De Oude Meerdijk. Kick-off is at 4:45 PM.