Feyenoord boss Arne Slot is baffled by the poor match fitness of Arsenal loanee Reiss Nelson.

The England U21 international made just nine appearances in all competitions for the Gunners last season and will be desperate for more first team football this time out.

But his start to life in the Netherlands has not been plain sailing, with Feyenoord boss Arne Slot leaving him out of the squad for their Europa Conference League game against Maccabi Haifa on Tuesday.

Slot, 42, explained: “Nelson had participated in almost all training sessions at Arsenal, but he experiences the training sessions here as a bit more spicy.

“He ran into an overload injury and so he is not here. Whether he will make it to PSV remains to be seen."

Feyenoord's clash against league leaders PSV will be their first league match since Nelson joined the club, but Slot has revealed that the Arsenal loanee is still short of fitness and will not be involved.

The boss said: “No, he is not there, it is quite difficult to explain. I have asked the medical staff if that is easy, but that does not seem to be easy.

"The bottom line is that he is in good condition, but that is different from playing matches and a certain kind of training.

“At Arsenal, he was part of the selection, but there they did a lot of eleven-on-eleven and he belonged to the team that had to imitate the opponent. Then you have to walk a bit like the coach wants you to walk.

“He has not played any matches. The intensity of our exercises may have happened there, but he was not there."