Metalurg see their chance for premier SEHA victory against Meshkov
Металург најави борба за првите бодови
Macedonian vice-champions Metalurg will on Wednesday, 17.00 CET in Boris
Trajovski sports hall host Meshkov in what they believe might end up being
their premier victory of the season. Fight until the final whistle is so far
however the only thing they can guarantee their fans will see.
Meshkov have good memories from Skopje this season. They have already
managed to reach a draw playing against Vardar after which they have reached a
dominant victory against Izvidac at home. Metalurg were on the other hand not
able to beat Vardar losing with only -1 and playing a surprisingly competitive
match against Veszprem losing with 3 goal difference.
Guests have a stronger team full of great individuals but Metalurg's young
team is proving to be an unpredictable and serious rival this season. Teams
have already met once this season, on tournament in Kanjiza with Belarus team
grabbing a victory.
Metalurg's roster experienced some minor changes during the last week with
middle back Darko Dimitrovski terminating contract and Milos Dragas signing
with coach Cervar's team.
Lino Cervar, Metalurg's coach:
After two difficult
matches, against Vardar and Vezsprem, we are preparing for
game versus Meshkov. Belarus champion is among best 4 teams in the League. That game is a challenge for us. Generally
I’m satisfied with our performances so far this season but we still have to work on attack.
Filip Taleski did not fulfill expectations in the match against Veszprem and he
will have to work on finding right spots and chances to shoot. Marko Neloski is
coming back of an injury and I expect him, Taleski and Kuzmanovski to step it
up. We're missing a few quality players to turn this small goal difference
we're losing with lately into a draw or a narrow victory. Meshkov is an
interesting team having some really tall backs. I remember the match against
them in preparation period when it was really hard to find a gap in their 6-0
defense.
Martin Velkovski, Metalurg`s player:
Meshkov is favorite in Wednesday's match. It’s a team with far more experience than
us, but that is also the motive for our young team. I believe we're all aware of our
mistakes from previous matches and that we'll be able to respond accordingly in
the match against Meshkov.
Sergey Bebeshko , Meshkov’s coach:
Metalurg has some players who will have their debut appearances in SEHA
Gazprom League this season. In their last two games they’ve proved everyone
they can play good, especially at home. This game will be quite different than
the pre-season one in Kanjiza where we’ve managed to beat them easily. It will
be hard to take this win, no underestimation from our side. All players will
have to play good to achieve it especially knowing how tough our schedule is
and will be until the end of October.
Dimitri Nikulenkau , Meshkov’s player:
SEHA Gazprom league is much stronger than last season and we have to be
fully prepared for each match. Metalurg plays a bit slow with long attacks.
Lino Cervar is master of creating teams and their recent results are proving
it. This won’t be an easy game that’s for sure.