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PSV conclude their first two weeks of pre-season training with a friendly at amateurs SV Vaassen on Saturday. PSV head coach Huub Stevens explained at the weekly media briefing on Friday afternoon in Oisterwijk that the emphasis has been on fitness work and team building so far.
Stevens feels delighted
'The lads have been terrific in pre-season training', said Stevens. 'Pre-season training remains a chore for some of them, but once they have finished training, they feel so much better. And our pre-season work has not only centred on hard running; we also paid attention to ball-related skills.' The head coach does not attach any value to the result of Saturday night's second pre-season friendly, against SV Vaassen. 'Results in the pre-season campaign do not matter. We prepare for the Eredivisie opener. We have consciously made a choice to play just a few friendlies against less strong opponents. Playing such a game is a nice break from training. We obviously hope the lads will be able to show a few things that we have practised at training. We would like them to be all over the pitch, but it won't be easy as they feel tired.' Huub Stevens wants his team to play attacking football this season. The strikers will have a chance to demonstrate their goals scoring prowess to the club's fans, as Stevens intends to put men more forward this season. 'But if you want to play on the opponents' side, you need to move a lot at the right time to create space for your attack.'
Feel slight pain
The players do not only complain of sore muscles; they also suffer slight pain. Nordin Amrabat is troubled by a sore Achilles tendon; Stijn Wuytens has strained a muscle while Jérémie Bréchet did not train at all this week due to a bruise. Nordin Amrabat will be on a gym-cycle this afternoon before it will be decided if he can take part in the Saturday morning training session. 'We are not going to take any risks. Hopefully, some lads will join the squad for full training on Monday again. Jan Kromkamp and Bas Roorda face a long spell on the sidelines. They will be allowed to step up their rehabilitation programme, but will not meet up with their colleagues for training the first four weeks.' Edison Méndez looks set to resume full training next week. 'We will be cautions, but I expect he will be able to take part in 80% of the exercises.'
