Trabzonspor coach Thomas Reis has hinted at changes to his starting line-up for Thursday’s UEFA Conference League meeting with Hearts, with fixture congestion and player fatigue influencing his selection.
The Turkish side host the Scottish club on October 22, hoping to build on their opening European victory, a 4-2 win over KuPS in which Mohamed Salah scored and provided an assist. <Cite refs={[“turn220807search0″,”turn220807search4”]}/>
Speaking at his pre-match press conference, Reis acknowledged the physical demands of the team’s schedule following their Monday fixture against Besiktas.
“We are playing a very large number of matches in a short time, and this really affects us,” Reis said, as quoted by Turkish newspaper Fanatik.
He added that some players were feeling tired but expressed hope they would recover in time for the European encounter.
Reis also revealed that injuries and the unavailability of several squad members could force him to make changes to the side that faced Besiktas.
“We have some injured players and others who are unavailable or out of the squad, so tomorrow we might play a different lineup than the one we played against Besiktas,” he said.
Despite the potential rotation, the Trabzonspor manager stressed that his team remained focused on securing another three points.
“We hope to reach six points, and I think that collecting 10 or 11 points will be enough to qualify for the next round and continue our journey in the tournament, so winning tomorrow is very important,” he added.
Salah’s involvement will be one of the key talking points ahead of the match after his influential performance against KuPS. However, Reis has not confirmed whether the Egyptian forward will be rested or included in the starting line-up.
Trabzonspor will aim to maintain their positive start to the European campaign while managing the workload of their key players during a demanding run of fixtures.
