Read Time 1 Minute, 48 Second

Daley Blind wasn’t able to play the complete match against Willem II on Friday night due to a minor injury. Blind was substituted in the 80th minute because of this and he was disappointed that he wasn’t able to help the team to get back in the game. Fortunately, Blind expects to be fit for the important game against Valencia coming Tuesday.



“I didn’t feel completely fit and therefore I wasn’t able to give the full 100% which this game needed. When you’re behind you have to be able to go the extra mile and I felt that I wasn’t able to do that anymore. Before the game, I already had some minor complaints and therefore I wasn’t able to play the full 90 minutes.” Blind says to Fox Sports. Fortunately for the Ajax-fans Blind expects to be fit for the match against Valencia: “That won’t be a problem, so don’t worry about it!”



The loss against Willem II is a big disappointment for Blind: “I think we brought this upon ourselves. We didn’t play good. Before they scored the 0-1, they already had three counters which were warnings for us. The fourth time it happens again and they manage to score a goal after giving a penalty. I think we were giving too many crosses in the first half. We should have stayed patient and played the way we normally do. We didn’t play the way we used to do because we didn’t follow or own principles. This loss really is a setback and it’s a moment for us to realise that we won’t win matches if we’re not completely focused.”



The loss against Willem II is the first Eredivisie match Ajax loses at home since 5 November 2017 and therefore it’s also the first home loss in the competition for Ajax-manager Erik ten Hag. Next week Ajax faces AZ away. At the moment the difference between the two clubs is still six points but AZ can bring this back to just three points tomorrow when they play against PEC Zwolle.

0 0