Any brighton and hove albion Fans worried about Bart Verbruggen at the World Cup can rest easy. Jan Paul van Hecke is confident his Seagulls teammate will make a recovery.
fc update report comments Today from the Brighton Defender. He is confident his club teammates will be ready for the Netherlands this weekend as they begin their World Cup campaign.
Brighton goalkeeper faces fitness race ahead of Netherlands opener
Bart Verbruggen faces a race to be fit for the Netherlands' World Cup opener after suffering an injury in training. They will face Japan in Group F.
The 23-year-old player is training alone Due to injuries, all eyes are on whether he will be able to play the game or not.
Manager Ronald Koeman provided a positive update this week as he insisted the injury could have been worse. Now Van Hecke has increased the positivity.
"I think things are going in the right direction, so I'm hopeful he (Vabruggen) will be back on Sunday," he told NOS.
"He trained again for the first time today and I think it went well. I haven't discussed it in detail with him."
Brighton defender remains upbeat despite Dutch concerns
The defender is also confident that the Netherlands are headed for a good tournament, despite some disappointing results and performances in practice games.
"I see positive things happening, especially in the last few days," he said.
“You can tell the World Cup and the matches are getting closer. This feeling is building, and you feel like you are part of something special.
"The atmosphere inside the team is also good. The training sessions have been good. It's a really beautiful feeling: it's really about to start."
However, he is well aware of the growing uneasiness among Dutch fans and in the Netherlands after poor performances against Algeria and Uzbekistan.
He concluded, "I can understand why. We ourselves feel it was a bit disappointing."
"There are a few reasons for this. Fortunately, there are a few reasons, otherwise it would have been more worrying," Van Hecke said. "We have trained well the last few days and the mood is positive. We need to show that on Sunday."
