Sergey Semak: "We're playing at home so we have the advantage"
The Zenit boss on the match with FC Copenhagen in St. Petersburg.
Regarding injuries, things have not changed very much, as for Zhirkov, he has not yet had a full training session and you won't see him in tomorrow's match. Oleg Shatov is training on an individual program and there are two more players who are also a doubt. Igor Smolnikov is just beginning to train so we will see how ready he is. The same goes for Mamanna. We are not yet totally sure who will definitely be playing tomorrow.
Is there any hope that Zhirkov will be back by the end of the year?
Maybe and we hope and believe that he will, but it will be very difficult for him as he's missed a lot of games and the injury is quite serious.
You and your wife recently visited a young man in the hospital, who has been seriously injured, can you tell us about this?
I think this question has nothing to do with tomorrow's match. This information has come from my wife’s instagram account and I'd like my personal life to remain behind closed doors.
What can we expect from FC Copenhagen tomorrow?
FC Copenhagen are currently the best team in Denmark and recently won a very important match. They are playing very well, are good with the ball and have good players, so it won't be easy. Our teams are similar in ability, but we are playing at home, so we have the advantage. It is always better to play at home. But it will be a tough game against a very good team.
A draw will be enough for Zenit tomorrow, but is it difficult is it to set up a team for this result? As we saw with CSKA yesterday and they paid for it.
According to the situation in the group, we only need a win. You are absolutely right, it is impossible to prepare for a draw, you can only play for a win and give all your best in every match and we often talk about it. For us, this is a vital thing. Attitude, dedication, discipline, plus individual player qualities, these are all parts of our team. We must give all our all to win and we are looking for only one result. This is football and it will be interesting.
