Claes joined Beerschot this summer on a free transfer from league rivals Lierse and immediately earned the trust of the coach and his teammates: “It took me some time to adapt during pre-season, but I feel like I’m getting closer to my best level. The fact that I get to play a lot certainly helps with that.”
Last week, the Bears created plenty of chances against Eupen but failed to finish them off. “Our football was good and physically we were strong. In the last 20 minutes Eupen could no longer keep up. It’s a pity we didn’t manage to score the winning goal, because we really deserved it. Converting chances remains a work point, and we’ve trained hard on that this week. We need to learn from the last game without overdramatizing. At the start of a season it’s normal to still have things to improve, but in my opinion we’re already quite far along as a group. That’s why I’m confident about tomorrow’s match.”
Tomorrow’s opponent is Jong Gent, who beat Olympic Charleroi on opening day but unnecessarily lost to RSCA Futures last weekend. “They’ll want to make up for that, especially at home. Since Gent’s first team doesn’t play this weekend, there’s a chance some A-squad players will get minutes. Either way, we mainly focus on ourselves. We know that if we’re at our best, we can beat any team in this league. Training this week was very intense, and we’ll need to bring that same intensity onto the pitch tomorrow,” Glenn added.
For the 31-year-old from Lier, it will also be his 250th professional game. Quite special, right Glenn? “Honestly, I don’t think too much about it. Of course, 250 matches is a nice number, but during the game it won’t cross my mind. Maybe afterwards some people will remind me, but I’ll only really enjoy it if we can bring home 3 points,” Claes said with a smile.
Kick-off tomorrow at 8PM: Jong Gent – Beerschot
