Veerman drops out of the Dutch squad after second injury break

AMSTERDAM: Dutch midfielder Joey Veerman is the second player to miss the squad for the Nations League matches against Bosnia and Herzegovina and Germany due to injury.

The 25-year-old, who played in all six games for the Dutch at the European Championships in Germany and reached the semi-finals with them, scored a goal in PSV Eindhoven's 3-0 win over Go Ahead Eagles on Sunday but had to leave the field after 65 minutes with a foot injury.

The Dutch Football Association (KNVB) announced on Monday that 25-year-old Justin Kluivert from Bournemouth had been appointed as his replacement.

With his return to the team, Kluivert has the chance to add another international cap to his two six years ago.

On Monday, Brighton & Hove Albion defender Jan Paul van Hecke was called up to the team for the first time after Tottenham Hotspur's Micky van de Ven was not used.

Van de Ven, 23, trained with Tottenham Hotspur last week but was not in the team's squad for Sunday's 2-1 Premier League defeat to Newcastle United.

In Spurs' last game, a 4-0 home win over Everton on 24 August, he appeared to suffer a knee injury following a tackle and suffered some discomfort but was able to continue.

The KNVB announced that Van de Ven was not fit to play and would therefore be replaced by 24-year-old Van Hecke.

To kick off their Nations League season, the Netherlands will host Bosnia and Herzegovina in Eindhoven on Saturday and Germany in the Johan Cruyff Arena in Amsterdam three days later.

(Written by Mark Gleeson in Cape Town; edited by Ken Ferris)