‘Sem Steijn did not want to come on against Fortuna. He was too emotional’

Leaving Sem Steijn on the bench against Fortuna Sittard was not solely Giovanni van Bronckhorst's decision. The midfielder himself was 'not in the right frame of mind', Van Bronckhorst said at the press conference ahead of the match against Inter.

An hour into Saturday afternoon's match, Feyenoord went 1-0 up against Fortuna Sittard when Luciano Valente turned in a cut-back from Anis Hadj Moussa.

Feyenoord loanee Shiloh 't Zand equalised for the visitors from outside the penalty area with five minutes remaining.

Despite his eye for goal, Steijn stayed on the bench after the equaliser. "After it went to 1-1, of course you want to make an attacking substitution, and I think Sem, in consultation with my staff... when they went over to tell him he was coming on, well, you could see he was still caught up in the emotion."

"I think he was perhaps still emotional about why he hadn't come on. So we didn't think he was ready to come on either. That's why I made the call to leave things as they were," Van Bronckhorst concluded.

Van Bronckhorst said: "We did intend to bring him on. And sometimes, yes, sometimes a player isn't in the right frame of mind to come on. Especially after the moment when he had to sit down again, so to speak."

"Ultimately, he has trained well again over the past few days and is ready to come on tomorrow. Sometimes, as a coach, you simply have to assess in the moment whether it is wise to bring someone on. And that will be different again tomorrow," he concluded.

Feyenoord face Inter in the Champions League on Tuesday evening at 21:00. The match takes place at De Kuip and will be shown on Ziggo Sport.