Hugh Freeze is battling an illness and is expected to coach Auburn vs. Kentucky

Auburn's Hugh Freeze will train against on Saturday Kentucky According to ESPN's Pete Thamel, he was reportedly battling an illness.

On3's Pete Nakos confirmed that Freeze is “certainly expected to coach” on Saturday.

“Sources: Auburn coach Hugh Freeze is battling an illness – possibly food poisoning – and did not travel with the team to Kentucky yesterday,” Thamel wrote on Twitter. “He's flying to Lexington this morning and is supposed to train there.”

Whatever may have been eating at Freeze appears to have worn off and he will be in Lexington in time to coach the Tigers against the Wildcats.

Auburn is 2-5 under Freeze this season and it's been a tough road so far. After Kentucky, they get ranked games against Vanderbilt, Texas A&M and Alabama in their final four games.

Given the sluggish first half of the year, Freeze took some time to reflect on the team and coaches' approach, emphasizing that the team wants to play to win rather than not to lose.

“It’s whatever you want it to be,” Freeze said. “You want to have that feeling all the time, but you want to have the confidence and definitely do the right thing for your current team to give them the best chance to win.”

Auburn's last game was a narrow loss against Missouriit seemed like the Tigers had a chance to win. At one point in the second half, Auburn even had a two-point lead and was quarterbacking Missouri Brady Cook struggled with an injury. Still, Missouri came from behind and won.

“It’s exactly what I said on the very last possession a while ago,” Freeze said. “I really wanted to take a shot on the first play and go for the kill. I really did, and I really think it was a good play and a good call. Plus you only had a defense blocking them on threes and inside the 5 yard line and we didn't always take care of the ball or protect it when I feel free and loose all the time. So all of these things are in your head, so of course I went back to our best player in 27 years (Jarquez Hunter), and in the end we had to punt again and use our defense, which I didn't mind at that point because they were playing so well.

“Brady Cook did a great job of extending the plays. The penalty hurt us too. I missed a line on a freshman corner in the third turn and the 10 really hurt on the last drive.”