De Jong clings to title hopes
Sunday 17th March 2002
PSV midfielder John de Jong has refused to give up hope on the title, despite dropping two crucial points in a scoreless draw at Vitesse. "We are quite sick after this result, but we are certainly not yet out of the title chase," he said.
With Ajax and Feyenoord both winning, PSV will now have to depend on their championship rivals slipping up if they are to clinch the title. They currently trail league leaders Ajax by seven points, although they have a game in hand, and are two points behind Feyenoord.
"I believe that if we win every game from now on we still have a very good chance of going all the way," De Jong insisted. "We are not yet out of the running."
The midfielder added that PSV now have a crucial week ahead of them. Not only do they face Feyenoord in the second leg of their Uefa Cup tie on Thursday, but they host Ajax in a make or break clash on Sunday.
"We will know were we stand on Sunday night. We will have either qualified for the Uefa Cup semi-finals and be completely back in the title race or our season will be over, although we would still be in the Dutch Cup.
"I believe that we have to rest well after this game and work towards Thursday and then I'm confident of a good result," De Jong added.
To make an impact against either Feyenoord or Ajax, PSV will have to improve on their performance against Vitesse, as they failed to make on impression against the well-organised Arnhem defence.
"They fielded two forwards and the other eight players were behind the ball," De Jong explained. "It was difficult to find a gap, although it went better after the break.
"We didn't really create big chances, but we still had a few small opportunities and then you have to be sharp. However, it didn't work out for us today."