Erik ten Hag has an almost fit selection in the run-up to the home game against FC Utrecht. Ajax’s coach only misses Daley Blind, who sustained a serious ankle injury last month in the away match of the Dutch against Gibraltar. Ten Hag hopes that the defender will be fit in time for this summer’s European Championship, but he cannot give any guarantees about this for the time being.
Blind has now undergone an operation on his anklets. “It looks good from what I’ve heard”, Ten Hag said in an interview with The Telegraph. “But I have never heard from a surgeon that an operation did not go well. But with my expert eye I also think it looks good.” The Dutch national team opens the group stage of the European Championship on June 13 with a match against Ukraine in the Johan Cruijff ArenA. Time is ticking away for Blind, although his trainer is hopeful.
“That would be great for him, but it must be responsible. I think Daley is going for it. But when I look at his injury, I think it will be very difficult”, Ten Hag takes into account a negative scenario. “Not that the injury is complicated, that time is just ahead. But it is going very well, so the hope has not been lost yet.” The coach has no injuries outside of Blind and he thinks he knows why his selection is doing so well physically.
“It is a matter of good training, so that we have provided a very good foundation. The choice to build up in blocks during corona to the new season has been a good one,” Ten Hag remembers. “We have a good medical and performance staff, who are on top of it very quickly with individual programs. And making the selection as broad as possible was important. But other factors also play a role in our fit selection. We are successful and then see. you want everyone to be there “, says Ten Hag. Ajax will play against Utrecht on Thursday evening at 6.45 pm.
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