KV Mechelen have been hit by another wave of injuries. Summer signings Adeshina Ayodele and Kiki Vanrafelghem are sidelined for the long term.
Ayodele suffered a cruciate ligament tear last weekend and will be out for eight months. The attacker was substituted after just half an hour. Vanrafelghem is also out long-term with torn ankle ligaments, keeping him out for ten weeks. These are new blows for a club sitting 15th in the Jupiler Pro League with just two points from five matches.
The injury list at KV Mechelen is alarmingly long. Leo Hjelde, another summer signing, is already out for months. Additionally, Diouf, St. Jago, Salifou, Struyf, and Van Ingelgom are also currently unavailable to coach Fred Vanderbiest. This makes putting together a fit starting eleven a major challenge. The full extent of the problem is visible on the injuries page.
The injury crisis comes at the worst possible time. The Malinwa are bottom of the Jupiler Pro League with two points from five games. The team has scored five goals and conceded thirteen, for a goal difference of minus eight. Their recent form of LDLDL highlights the struggles. They trail league leaders KAA Gent by thirteen points. The current standings show the size of the gap.
Coach Vanderbiest must get creative with his squad for the next match. KV Mechelen play away against Lommel United this Saturday, September 19th. Lommel currently sit in ninth place. The absence of so many key players makes this away fixture even tougher. The schedule for the coming weeks is on the fixtures page. The next home game is not scheduled for another two weeks.
