Heintze landmark in Dutch duel

Danish defender Jan Heintze stands by to make his 500th appearance for PSV Eindhoven in Thursday's UEFA Cup quarter-final in which they face an all-Netherlands encounter with Feyenoord. Heintze could benefit from the bout of concussion which has ruled out Johann Vogel.

Heintze milestone
Heintze's return for what is the first European clash between the Dutch giants will end an eight-week spell on the sidelines brought about by a knee injury. The 38-year-old said: "I have told the manager that I am match-fit. If he wants to use me, I'm ready for it. I had planned to make a return for the second meeting with Leeds, but it appeared that it wasn't completely recovered. I was able to train the whole time, though, so physically I didn't lose any ground on the others."

Evenly matched
Wilfred Bouma could move to the left side of midfield in Vogel's position leaving Heintze free to slot back into his favoured left-back position for the match at the Philips stadium. The sides appear to be well-matched, sharing the same points total in the Dutch league while both previous games this season have ended in draws. PSV eventually won when they met in the Dutch Cup after a penalty decider.

Loss of Vogel a blow
The loss of Vogel - the Swiss midfield player will also miss the UEFA Cup return with Feyenoord - has disappointed PSV head coach Eric Gerets, who said: "He was playing just as well as last season and it's a shame that he got injured just at this time. The Vogel-Van Bommel tandem was running as well as ever. At least we have enough quality to deal with his absence, but it's certainly a loss for us".

Hofland sees red
There was another blow for Gerets at the weekend with star defender Kevin Hofland ordered off for a professional foul. Like Vogel he will now miss the league fixture with SBV Vitesse that follows the European tie.

Level in the league
PSV welcomed back goalkeeper Ronald Waterreus last weekend after a long injury absence and it proved a gentle return as they beat Roda JC 4-1 to share second place in the table with Feyenoord. Mateja Kezman and Dennis Rommedahl scored the goals either side of a double strike from Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink. It took PSV's hero over Leeds United AFC in the previous round to 20 league goals for the season.

Loevens slips in
Feyenoord coach Bert van Marwijk has to choose between Mauricio Aros and Tomas Rzasa for the left-back position, while 18-year-old central defender Glenn Loevens replaces Patrick Paauwe who is serving a one-match ban.

Ono on target
Feyenoord also recorded a 4-1 win last weekend over AZ Alkmaar with Pierre Van Hooijdonk netting twice. The Japanese international Shinji Ono and Jon Dahl Tomasson were the other scorers.