Your last competitive game was in early December, and the next is in early March, almost three months without an RPL, so have you been bored?
We’ve missed things and miss being in Russia, I really want to go back, because we’ve been at this training camp for more than a month and a half, and not gone out at all. I want to get back soon. We’re excited for the restart of the league season, especially since the first game is against Spartak. We really want to win that game as we’re in second place, we need to catch up. The first match is against a good opponent, and they’ll be a very good atmosphere at home.
How difficult has this this month and a half of training been for you?
The first training camp was probably the hardest physically, and the third was mentally hard, because we’ve been here for a very long time, and everything has been a bit boring, the food, hotel, the sun, the same training pitch. We're all a little tired of it, but we're almost done. We are well prepared physically and tactically, the team is 100% ready for the season.
Have you been looking at Spartak? What can you say about them?
Now we are training on our usual cycle, so we haven’t looked at them yet, but we will in the next few days. We’ll watch some of their matches from their training camp. We know their results and that they won their pre-season tournament with good results. They are probably also well prepared, but I hope that we are better.
There are a number of new players in the squad. Have you spoken much to them and how are they getting on?
Yes, this pre-season we have a few new players come and go. I think that everyone has already gotten used to each other, both on and off the pitch. I think everyone ready, both the new players and us veterans.