How is Axel Witsel? Did you expect Rubin to offer more resistance?

With regard Witsel, we will know only tomorrow. He asked to be subbed, because he received a hard knock. He's not the kind of player who goes off from a light touch. As for Rubin, I was worried about this game, we returned from Israel at 7am and did not sleep all night, I was worried because the players might not have time to recover. I watched their game with Ural and the final score did not reflect what was on the pitch, Rubin should have scored even more.

We have carefully analysed their whole team, all their new transfers, they've bought some good, skillful players, for example, Alex Song, who played for the Arsenal and Barcelona and many others, also Zambrano, Sanchez and Jonatas. Against Ural, they played with passion. I know how difficult it is to create a team and they don't always end up all established. I drew the attention of our players on their first team, they have only four Russians who were there last season, all the rest are new players with whom they are not familiar. I asked them to be focused and cautious, the players did just that.

We started the match very well, we scored early and created a lot of chances. We knew that they would conceed and when we scored the second goal we then completely controlled the course of the game and they were demoralised.

Who is Zenit's first choice goalkeeper and are you happy with what you saw today?

I'll answer the second question first. There were times when I was not happy in the game, this was relating to our organisation, ideas and direction of play. On the whole, we are satisfied, because there is visible progress with the team. It was important to convey that to the team, that we will play attacking football and they have accepted that. In general we are happy with how the team is progressing. We did not relax after the score was 4-0,we did concede a goal and that should be worked on. We are a top-level team, and Zenit play all ninety minutes. All the ninety minutes should be focused and concentrated.

Regarding the first question, I am being very attentive to all of our goalkeepers. I understand that everyone can make mistakes and the goalkeepers are the last line, but when it is a series of mistakes, I think about things. There have been errors against Rostov and then in Israel, we were shocked when we let in that ridiculous goal. In this regard, there is something to think about.

Fans aren't happy with Kokorin's form, are you satisfied with his performances?

I have already said this and I will repeat it, he has incredible qualities, he is very fast, is aggressive, plays with both feet, is good up front. It takes time to understand how to get the best out of his qualities. He has to follow many of the points to which we have drawn his attention to, to know when to get back into position, when to hold the ball up, when to help the defence turn into attack. It takes time to review this. It is not easy to change old habits and move on to what we require. Today I was pleased Kokorin.

How has the result in Israel affected the teams mindset, after scoring all those goals in such a short space of time? 
 
Any game like that helps and this game also helps, because victory is important, its good for the next game. I think that game has helped us. The reaction from the players was incredible. It would be as nice to go on the field after losing to Maccabi. There the two substitutions changed the game and awakened the whole team. If you remember how we scored the first goal, we put pressure on their goalkeeper Rajkovic, being 3-0 down, he knocked one over the bar and then we went and scored. The fact that the team believed in itself, I appreciated very much. I am glad that today the players followed our game plan right from the first minute, we played with good quality and deserved to win.

The most important thing is to have a stable team and a style of play, only then you can ask the players what you want from them. The main thing is we have a good competition for places and it stimulates everyone.