The league season is drawing to a close. Is the team nervous or is all calm?
We are staying focused. In training we are preparing for our next match just as we usually do. Every match coming up is difficult and we need wins. We are now getting ready for the match with Rotor.
Sardar Azmoun will miss the match through suspension. Will this be a problem for Zenit?
Whenever one of our best player isn’t available it creates problems for us. But we have other players who are ready to step in and help the team when given their chance.
Rotor have not scored a single goal in their last six matches and have only picked up one point in those games. Are there any dangers from this team?
I think we need to look at Rotor under their old and the new coach. Since their new manager, yes they have not scored, but at the same time they’ve played quite well and they’ve played against the league’s best sides, Lokomotiv, CSKA, and Dynamo. They had chances in those games and those matches could have had different results, they were tough matches. In the match with CSKA, the army team got a deflection that helped them. Dynamo scored their first goal from a penalty and the game with Lokomotiv went right to the final whistle. It won't be an easy match and Rotor will fight throughout the match looking to earn some points.
Do you have any update on Dejan Lovren's recovery from injury?
He is training on an individual programme and won’t be available for this match. We’ll see about the next match and I hope he will play against Lokomotiv.
How do you rate the away draw with Krasnodar now, especially after Spartak lost 3-0 at home to Ufa?
This was a point gained because we were playing against one of the league’s strongest sides and a team that had challenged for the title in recent previous seasons. This was defiantly a point earnt for us and we can see how many points we need to win ahead of us. Every upcoming match will be tough and you can’t win every game so you need to keep losses to a minimum.
