This newsitem has been supplied by PSV.nl
PSV head coach Huub Stevens was satisfied with PSV's overall performance but he admitted at the post-match press conference that he was slightly disappointed with the display his side had put in during the first thirty minutes. An Afellay strike earned PSV a 1-0 win over Sparta in their first home game of the new season. Stevens blamed the midweek international fixtures for PSV's lethargic start to Saturday's game.
Players away on international duty
Edison Méndez and Nordin Amrabat were ruled out of the Sparta Rotterdam game. Stevens explained: 'Méndez was not fit enough to play, so we handed a debut to Nijland. He proved at training he has the technical skills to play on both wings and has the capacity to cut into the box. I might have opted to play Jason Culina or Otman Bakkal, but Culina has been ill all week and Bakkal is observing the Ramadan fast. If I had fielded him along with Afellay, he would have been the second player to abstain from food and drink and I did not want to take any risks.' Stevens blamed the midweek international fixtures for PSV's poor preparations to Saturday's game and their tentative start. 'With several players away on international duty for ten days, we could obviously not prepare thoroughly for the game against Sparta Rotterdam. But we have earned all three points and that was the most important thing tonight.' His colleague Foeke Booy thought his team had fought until the final whistle. 'We have given our all and we gave PSV a few scares in the closing stages.'
