«Aiming to qualify with the right mentality»
Here is what Igor Tudor said during his press conference, on the eve of the second leg against FC Spartak Trnava in Slovakia.
On Lucas’s absence:
«I don’t want to speak about specific players. We are very well aware of the situation. Tomorrow you will see a line-up that most probably won’t feature again this season –it’s an emergency line-up. We are short on quality compared even with last season’s team. We will field the best possible team in order to achieve qualification. If we do what we worked on, we can make it to the next round. We have to accept this situation and work with the players we have, who are good enough to qualify. We want to make it to the UEFA Europa League play-offs«.
On the reason that the Spaniard was granted a leave of absence before such a crucial encounter:
«This is not my part. My part consists in working with the players I have at my disposal«.
On whether he was prepared for tough situations:
«I respect your work, but please help us from your end to focus on tomorrow’s encounter. We have 11 very good players who will feature tomorrow, we must respect them. We can talk tomorrow after the encounter about whatever you want if we have achieved our goal«.
On what the team need to achieve qualification:
«First of all, compared with the first leg, I would like a match of 11 vs 11. That will increase our possibilities. FC Spartak Trnava are a well organized squad. I would like us to defend well for 90 minutes. If we score –and I believe we will get at least 2-3 chances- we will go through«.
On his line-up’s potential and if they can play a counterattacking game:
«I will not enter into tactical details. I expect to see the right mentality from my players. That is imperative. If all players defend well for 90 minutes, we are more likely to qualify than our rivals«.
On the venue’s small size and whether it will affect his troops:
«No I don’t think it will be a factor. Both teams will benefit from a great atmosphere«.
On whether he would qualify this match as a final:
«Of course it is a final –if we get eliminated, one competition will be over for us. But we will deal with this match as we always do. We will play to win«.
On whether he feels more pressured now, compared to the second leg against NK Lokomotiva Zagreb:
«It’s tough to make comparisons«.
