Pusic: The result in sparring is not so important, we received information about our current level

Head coach Shakhtar Marino Pusic commented on the Miners’ sparrings with Hradec Kralove and Velez.

“Going back to what I said earlier, it is very important for us to have 90 minutes of match practice, and we got that at a fairly high intensity. Perhaps in the second match it was a little more than in the first, but we worked hard. As for the result, it is, of course, not very good, because defeat is bad, even in sparring.”

“To be honest, in friendly matches I don’t pay as much attention to the result. It was a great day for me as a coach because it provided a lot of information about where we are matched at the moment, about individual players and also about the decisions I will be making in the upcoming matches.”

“I react the way an athlete should: you get upset when you lose. But I saw the team constantly fighting and working hard to try to beat two opponents who were playing pretty low defensively. We created a lot of opportunities in both matches, but our finishing was poor.”

“I have already said that Viktor Tsukanov has potential, and I saw this last year when he trained with us for a week. He shows excellent results, I like his game, the guy has great potential. And the fact that many of the things we saw in the second sparring came from him – not only the goal, but also opening up space and creating opportunities – tells me a lot. So Victor is on the right track to develop as a serious footballer.”

“The players will have a day off on Sunday, because both sparring sessions were difficult and the guys worked hard. In many aspects, our preparation began from the first match. We will make a lot of effort over the next two weeks, work on a lot of things to be ready for the meetings with Marseille. We know that friendly matches are not ideal preparation, but this is what we have. We have to find the best way out of the situation and prepare for official fights.”

Shakhtar played two test matches on Saturday. In the first match, the Miners lost to the Czech Hradec Kralove (0:2). Then Shakhtar lost to Marino Pusic’s former team Velez (2:3).

Also at the Turkish training camp, the orange-and-blacks defeated the Armenian Pyunik (2:0), the Polish Lech (3:1) and tied with the Slovenian Maribor (0:0).

Shakhtar took third place in Group H of the Champions League. Marino Pusic’s team will play in the 1/16 of the Europa League, where its opponent will be Marseille. In the Ukrainian Championship, the Miners are in fourth place, three points behind the leaders, but with two matches in hand.