The day before the home game against Royal Antwerp FC, in front of a sold-out Lotto Park, coach Besnik Hasi addressed the press. The head coach discussed Nilson Angulo's contract extension, Ilic's first week in training and the suspension of Tristan Degreef, among other things.

The coach was immediately asked about the contract extension of Nilson Angulo, in fine form since the start of the season with five assists and two goals in 10 games. "The club has made efforts to keep Nilson on board, this has been a process for several months. I am very happy that he has stayed with Anderlecht this summer."

Asked about the evolution of the Ecuadorian winger, the coach indicated that Nilson has matured in all aspects. "Last season he played as a wingback, because he also has the physical abilities to play in that position. It taught him to improve his discipline as well. Now, he can play his preferred position, on the left, where he can also be more decisive. With everything being clear contract-wise now as well, there is nothing standing in his way to perform at his best this season. For the first time, he is a starter and a very important player for the team. The World Cup is also coming up for Ecuador, so it is also important for him personally to play a good season."

The latest signing of the summer mercato, Mihajlo Ilic, is now also eligible to play. "He was able to train with the group this week. He is picking things up quickly and had a good training week. Mihajlo may have completed the preparation with Bologna, but it has been a while since he’s played an official game. We will await training today and then decide whether he makes the squad for Saturday, but that is our intention."

Ilay Camara, meanwhile, is also back on the training pitch. "He is doing large parts of training sessions with the group, which is positive. But we want to be careful with him: he missed the preparation before the season and we want to bring him only when he is really 100 per cent ready, so he can remain fit afterwards. That could be as early as next week, but we have to keep an eye on his evolution and not take any risks."

With Antwerp (Saturday), Gent (Tuesday) and OHL (Friday), the Mauves face three games in less than a week. For those first two games, the coach will not be able to count on Tristan Degreef, who received a two-game ban following his red card last weekend against Genk. "Look, Tristan is a young player and those mistakes are part of his learning curve. He does have to learn from his mistakes, we also talked to him about that. But we must not create the image of Tristan as a dirty player. He is not. I also want my players to engage in duels, I don't want to take that intensity away from him. It's just about finding the right balance."

The games against Antwerp and Gent will be important,’ the coach acknowledged. "I want to see us continue to make progress. We also play at home both games. Against Genk we played well until that red card, after that we also had the right fighting spirit and mentality to hold on to a draw."