Amsterdam
Jordan Henderson has resumed group training at Ajax. The midfielder has recovered from a back injury that kept him out for almost a month. Trainer John van ‘t Schip may include him in his selection for Wednesday evening’s home match against Excelsior.
For Steven Berghuis, the match against number fifteen in the rankings comes too early. He has been missing from Ajax for more than two months due to a back and knee injury. Berghuis did participate in a small part of the training on Tuesday.
“He won’t be there yet, but it is at least a good step in the right direction,” said coach Van ‘t Schip on Ajax TV. The injured Kristian Hlynsson is also still missing from the Amsterdam team.
Ajax wants to use the match against Excelsior to strengthen fifth position in the rankings. After Feyenoord’s cup win, this entitles you to a ticket for the second preliminary round of the new season of the Europa League.
“We have to play like we did against FC Twente in the second half,” said Van ‘t Schip, referring to the home win (2-1) a week and a half ago over the club from Enschede. “We play not to have to play in the play-offs.”
Van ‘t Schip wants Ajax to play with four defenders and three attackers, just like in the second half against FC Twente. “After the conversion to 4-3-3 you saw that there was a big difference with the first half,” he says. “We turned the 0-1 deficit into a victory. That also gives the boys the feeling that we can continue in this way.”
Conceição
Francisco Conceição will not return to Ajax. FC Porto has included the option to purchase in the rental contract of the 21-year-old wing attacker. Ajax took him over from Porto in 2022 for around five million euros. He returned to that club last summer on a rental basis, which reportedly paid Ajax around ten million euros.
