Ajax Amsterdam vs Fenerbahce - Frank de Boer wary of Robin van Persie threat

Posted Thursday, November 05, 2015 by PA

Ajax coach Frank de Boer has warned his side to beware of a backlash from Dutchman Robin van Persie when his side face Fenerbahce in the UEFA Europa League on Thursday.

Ajax go into the game without a win in three Group A games so far and smarting from a 1-0 defeat in Istanbul last month which left them in third place in the table.

Van Persie was left out of the Dutch team this week for two forthcoming friendlies and De Boer warned: "It has haunted me that he will be motivated all the way to the bone.

"Van Persie is a very good and dangerous player and we must pay a lot of attention to him."

De Boer is still without defender Mitchell Dijks for the game and he is likely to be replaced by Jairo Riedewald who stepped in for Saturday's 6-0 Eredivisie trouncing of Roda JC.

While De Boer's eyes will be on Van Persie, he must also pay attention to Fenerbahce's Brazilian striker Fernandao who has scored three goals in his last two Europa League games.

It was Fernandao's late winner which sunk the Dutch side in Istanbul and his pace up front is set to help Portuguese coach Vitor Pereira in his bid to play a fast, attacking game.

Pereira has watched his side keep pace with the Super Lig leaders after a 1-0 win at Osmanlispor on Saturday which maintained their hold on third place in the table.

Pereira said: "It does pay to play slow football, and if we repeat this kind of football in the Netherlands then we will not win against Ajax.

"We must accelerate and everybody must take responsibility because a lot is expected of us both at home and in Europe."