Mircea Lucescu: "My job is to motivate my players"

The Zenit boss on the match against Maccabi, the European club rankings, the goalkeeper position and changes to both teams from the last game.

Zenit have already got out of the group and face Krasnodar soon, will you rest some players tomorrow?

The first thing is the Europa League, We should respect this tournament and we won’t forget that we should get a win, for us and for Russia in the coefficient. There are no second rate players in the Zenit squad, the squad is the whole team and this is how we’ll choose players tomorrow.

Who are your first choices for the game? Shatov, who missed training, will he play and what about the goalkeeper?

That’s good information you have! If we talk seriously, Shatov will miss the game and he’ll go to Helsinki for an operation and will be out until the end of the year. Lodygin will play in goal tomorrow and I plan he’ll be in goal until the end of the year.

What plans do you have for winter transfers?

At the moment I can’t say, maybe next week we’ll meet with the club directors and I’ll discuss this with them.

We know that you study the opposition, what’s the difference between Maccabi now and in the previous game, and what about Zenit compared to the previous match?

As for Maccabi, I think they have the same squad and they won’t have any surprises for us tomorrow. They have a good squad with many internationals and I think they are well motivated. My job is to motivate my players. They will have analyzed the first leg and they have the motivation, because they still have a chance to reach the playoffs. They have three changes from the their squad, Ben Haim, Skarione and Micahwhen, when compared to the game in Israel.

As for Zenit, the team will be different when compared to the last match in Israel.

We know that Mogilivets is now injured, would it have been better for him not to play for Russia like Dzyuba?

I can’t decide for anyone else, he played for the national team and that helps him in his career and for his image, but it was not my decision.

You mentioned your respect for the competition and you have already qualified from the UEL Group and are you aiming to win six games from six?

I said it before and no matter what players play tomorrow, they will try and do their best and to win, a win is hopefully followed by another win some days later. There are other games for us to win but we should concentrate on tomorrow's match.