It was already known that Steven Bergwijn will not be able to play for Ajax on Wednesday evening in the remainder of the away match against RKC Waalwijk , but John van 't Schip has now also said that the attacker will not be coming to North Brabant at all. Van 't Schip will have to appoint another captain. That will be Josip Sutalo or Jorrel Hato .
RKC Waalwijk and Ajax met each other more than two months ago, but as is known, the final whistle was not reached that evening. After a violent collision between Etiënne Vaessen and Brian Brobbey, the match was permanently stopped. The KNVB decided to play out the remainder - six minutes excluding injury time - on December 6. Several rules apply to the remaining minutes, including that players who have been substituted - logically - are no longer allowed to appear within the lines. Bergwijn could no longer help his team to get the 2-3 lead over the line.
The captain will not be coming to Waalwijk at all, Ajax coach John van 't Schip says in front of the camera of the club channel. “With such a busy schedule, it might not be a bad idea for him to have a day of rest. Then he can prepare for the weekend," said the interim head coach of the Amsterdam team. Ajax will receive a visit from Sparta on Saturday evening and if it manages to take the 2-3 lead in Waalwijk, it can do good business in the rankings again in a few days. The current number eight in the Eredivisie will be level with Sparta with a win over RKC. If they win against the Rotterdam team, it can even rise to fifth place.
But it's not that far yet. First try to win in Waalwijk. In addition to Bergwijn, Jay Gorter and Silvano Vos, who had a starting place on September 30, are also not present. This also applies to Branco van den Boomen, who will no longer be in action this calendar year, and Amourricho van Axel Dongen. The latter came in after 79 minutes for Bergwijn, but was injured a week later in the home match against AZ. Van Axel Dongen recently returned to the training field, but is not yet fit enough to take action.
No Berghuis at Ajax?
This means that Van 't Schip will definitely have to make a number of changes. He will also have to appoint another captain. In the absence of Bergwijn, the tie is normally for Steven Berghuis, but Van 't Schip did not mention him as an option in conversation with Ajax TV . Remarkable, because Berghuis had a starting place against RKC and had not (yet) been substituted. “It was Sutalo, Hato carried it. So it will probably be between one of the two," he said. Does Van 't Schip mean that we will not see Berghuis in action on Wednesday evening? That will have to become clear.
