Forward march for Van Basten

Coach Marco van Basten said "the accent is on attack" as the Netherlands look to bounce back from their 1-0 defeat in Romania when Slovenia visit Eindhoven.

Suspended regulars
A 1-0 defeat in Constanta has left the Netherlands second in their UEFA 2008 EURO™ qualifying section, just two points clear of third-placed Bulgaria, and regardless of a number of injuries and suspensions they can ill afford to drop more points. Ruud van Nistelrooy, Giovanni van Bronckhorst and Joris Mathijsen are all suspended for the game, while Nigel de Jong has withdrawn from the squad with a groin injury and has been replaced by FC Twente midfielder Orlando Engelaar.

'We have to win'
However, with Wesley Sneijder and Robin van Persie having served one-match bans and AFC Ajax defender John Heitinga back in contention after missing training on Monday with an ankle problem, Van Basten was urging his side to go for broke against Slovenia. "The accent is on attack," he said. "Because of the loss against Romania we have to win, so we have to attack."

Pack reshuffled
The suspension of Van Nistelrooy might mean that AFC Ajax striker Klaas Jan Huntelaar will start up front with Van Persie and Rafael van der Vaart assisting from the wings. Sneijder and Clarence Seedorf may also start together in midfield as Van Basten shuffles his pack. "Either you can choose a new system or bring new players into the lineup," said Van Basten as he pondered the numerous absences from his squad. "We will probably go for the latter option.

Major concern
"Our biggest concern is to get the ball from defence into attack," he added. "It often seems that our defenders are the least regarded players but they also have the most difficult jobs. We have been working on that for a long time, and there is progress but it has not been all that fast as the Dutch national team does not get to gather together too often."