Excelsior Rotterdam manager Mitchell van der Graag spoke to NOS after his side took the spoils in the Rotterdam derby with a 3-2 win against Sparta Rotterdam.
- By James Rowe
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The coach lauded the combative nature of his team to go for the win from the offset. It ensured that Excelsior Rotterdam won again after losing the last 5 consecutive matches.
Van der Graag said, ”We had a difficult month in October and we have won tonight for the first time in while and that feels good. You know that when you work for Excelsior Rotterdam that we are going to have a difficult period somewhere in the season and if you compare that to the good start of the season that we had. Lately we have played and not won any points and then the derby tonight which is important to the supporters but it was also more important tonight for us to win again.
”A derby win can only give us confidence and I compliment my team because we went for it from the offset and despite falling behind we managed to turn it around and that is the first time we managed to do that this season. I saw many positive things tonight. There was also relief at the final whistle because we worked really hard to achieve an important victory. We are now on 13 points and getting closer to the group above us in the league.
”It is not so much a weight off my shoulders but it will be nice to go into work on Monday morning. All our problems are not solved due to this victory. We still have to fight for points in our coming games. What had a great start to the season and then a difficult period and that means that we have to keep working hard. A fine victory tonight but we must now look to Vitesse Arnhem away next weekend and attempt to get something there too.”
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