Emotional Steijn was not ready to come on, says Van Bronckhorst

Van Bronckhorst said Steijn was emotionally unprepared to come on as substitute after being left out against Fortuna Sittard; the manager downplayed the incident.

former Feyenoord manager Giovanni van Bronckhorst explained his decision not to bring on midfielder Sem Steijn in the closing stages of Saturday's 1-1 draw with Fortuna Sittard. Van Bronckhorst had planned to introduce Steijn in the second half but changed his mind after Luciano Valente opened the scoring in the 59th minute. When Shiloh 't Zand equalised, Van Bronckhorst chose not to use Steijn, saying the player was still emotionally affected by being left out initially.

"He was still in the emotion of why he hadn't come on. We didn't think he was ready to play," Van Bronckhorst said. However, the manager was sympathetic to Steijn's reaction, noting he had experienced similar frustration during his own playing career. "I've had those periods too, when I ended up on the bench. You're not happy," he reflected.

Van Bronckhorst stressed he wants to move past the incident and confirmed Steijn has trained well since and will be available for Tuesday's Champions League match against Internazionale.