Standard seek cure for winter blues
Wednesday, December 14, 2005
Article summary
R. Standard de Liège hope to arrest a recent slide when they face RSC Anderlecht in a top-of-the-table encounter in the Belgian First Division.
Article body
Winter blues
The fixture was originally scheduled for 26 November, when Standard held a two-point advantage at the summit, but heavy snow forced a postponement. While the Sclessin pitch soon thawed, Dominique D'Onofrio's side have since frozen, picking up just four points from five matches, a run which has included three defeats, and dropping to second, three points behind Anderlecht.
'Good position'
Standard's hopes of a first championship in 23 years seem to be slipping, but D'Onofrio is aware that one win would drag them back into contention. "We are still in a very good position," the 52-year-old said. "We go into the game only three points behind Anderlecht – it's been a long time since we were in that position."
Loss of focus
The coach attributes the slump to a lack of concentration but insists his players will be fully focused this evening. "If my players had been as geed up as they are now, we wouldn't have lost so many points," he explained. "Anderlecht have used the postponement as a psychological advantage, and we need to concentrate on our own game now."
Personnel problems
But while Anderlecht have taken a mental edge, Standard have been able to improve their options with Mohammed Tchite, Oguchi Onyewu and Christian Negouai all available to face the Brussels outfit having been suspended for the original date. Anderlecht, by contrast, now have selection problems with Olivier Deschacht banned, and strikers Serhat Akın, Grégory Pujol and Mbo Mpenza struggling with injury.
Good draw
Nonetheless, last season's runners-up have taken ten points from their last five outings, as well as ending a 12-game losing streak in the UEFA Champions League with victory at Real Betis Balompié - and coach Frank Vercauteren is keen for that progress to continue. "A draw wouldn't be too bad, but it would be good to increase our advantage over Club Brugge [KV] and [KRC] Genk," he said. "I want to be top of the league and to stay there until the end." Standard have something different in mind.
