Serneels explains absence of Reading’s Vanhaevermaet in Belgium’s defeat to England | OneFootball

Belgium head coach Ives Serneels has confirmed that Reading’s Justine Vanhaevermaet was missing from the side which lost 3-0 to England at Molineux last night as a result of a minor injury.

The 30-year-old midfielder was missed by Belgium as latest opponents England recorded a comfortable victory over The Red Flames thanks to two own goals and a Rachel Daly strike.

When speaking to FAWSL Full-Time after the match, Belgium boss Serneels explained that Vanhaevermaet has been nursing a knock which has affected her condition but she should be fit for the Northern Ireland game next week.

“She will play next week,” Serneels said. “We didn’t want to take any risks today because she hasn’t trained 100% in the last few days. When she is 100%, she can be very important for us.

“We have lots of learnings to take from this game but there are also lots of positives that we can take into next week.”

Commenting on Belgium’s performance further, Serneels was very much taking the positives from the game.

He added “We were courageous and I think we were tactically very good for the first 60 minutes. We know that we have just played one of the favourites for the European Championship. They created a lot of good chances but our goalkeeper and defence were ready.

“When England scored, we needed to hold it for five or 10 minutes more and the manner of some of the goals were unlucky but they deserved to win today.”

Belgium’s next international friendly against Northern Ireland takes place in Lier on Thursday evening.