Mladen Bartulovich: "Important victory before the break - satisfied with the players' attitude"

Main coach of "Metalist 1925" Mladen Bartulovich summed up the match against "Poltava", evaluated the squad rotation, and shared the team's plans for the international break:

— Mladen, congratulations on the victory. How do you assess today's match and how satisfied are you with the team's performance?

— First of all, congratulations to the team on the victory, and thank you to the guys for their attitude. It was a tough match after playing against "Shakhtar". We rotated the squad — six new players. Some haven't played in a while, some made their debut in the starting lineup, and immediately scored a debut goal. We are happy that we won today and are going into the national team break in a good mood.

— You made significant rotations today. How satisfied are you with the players who got a chance to start?

— I am satisfied with all my players. I am very pleased to work with them. They do everything that is needed and give their maximum for the result. Their attitude towards work pleases me a lot. I want them to continue working like this — together we can achieve a lot.

— In previous matches, you talked about having a tough talk during halftime. Did today's goal at the end of the first half affect the atmosphere in the dressing room?

— Probably yes. We had many moments that we didn't capitalize on earlier — if we had scored earlier, it would have been calmer. But it's good that we managed to score at the end of the half. At the same time, we couldn't relax because "Poltava" is a dangerous team: lots of fighting, long passes. They also created chances near our goal.

— An international break is ahead. What are the team's plans?

— The team will have a few days off. Then we will continue working in our usual routine. On Saturday, the 28th, we will have a friendly match with "Obolonnya", after which we will continue preparing for the upcoming matches.

— There were many news surrounding the club today: the Cup draw, and the CDC decision regarding the match against "Veres". How do you assess this?

— I am glad that the decision was made to play the match against "Veres" and everything will be decided on the football field. Regarding the draw — we were ready for any opponent. We got a team from Chernihiv. I know their coach well and respect this team — they are doing a good job. It will be an interesting confrontation.