Ranko Popović, the coach of Vojvodina FC wants his team to repeat the play from Subotica, and believes that in that case, they will win against Javor.

The players of the ’’old lady’’ are welcoming the team of Javor FC in the eighth round of Mozzart bet Super league of Serbia, and Voša’s coach firstly addressed the condition of Jonathan Bolingi.

  • I would like to inform the public about the condition of Jonathan Bolingi. Thank God, and also the wonderful doctors who took care of him, for doing everything to make him better. He is slowly waking up, he is not yet entirely conscious, but he started breathing on his own. The doctors will inform you about some other details, because they are the experts. I thank them enormously for everything, both the doctors and the entire staff, because it was not easy- Popović said.

He believes that Vojvodina did everything they need to do to win in the last round in Subotica.

  • I am interested in the team repeating their play from Subotica, it was not perfect, but it is headed in the right direction. We created seven or eight chances from the game, and we want to confirm that, and correct some mistakes. We make a lot of chances but we don’t score, and we receive goals from very few chances. If we continue to play lik that, the results must follow. I would not like you to take this the wrong way, nor am I looking for an alibi in that, but in Subotica we didn’t have four or five players at our disposal, and I shouldn’t say that, it should be noticeable. The fact that the team played like that with five players less, means that they deserve to be commended for what they did. Our goal will always be to win, but you have to agree with me that we did enough to win at that match – Popović highlighted.

He also reflected on the upcoming rival.

  • Javor is a highly organized and disciplined team which has a few remarkable individuals. It is my priority to continue playing like we did so far, because we are doing a good job, and everything is functioning better at the training sessions, regardless of what is happening to us. My heart will be in the right place if we manage to make up for the absence of the players who are missing. It is also a chance for those who are here, to use it and impose themselves. It’s what makes one team a real team, and that’s the healthy competition we want – Popović pinpointed.

Aside from Bolingi, Uroš Nikolić and Guram Giorbelidze are missing, while the newcomers, Aleksa Vukanović and Norman Campbell will be in the protocol for the match.

  • Apart from Bolingi, we definitely won’t have Uroš Nikolić at our disposal, because his knee condition is worsened. The health of each player is our priority, and no player will play sick, with fever, or let alone hurt. Guram is also not there, I don’t know for how long. He hurt adductor, and the plan was that he would undergo surgery, but we made a deal with the doctors to try some other methods. He trains a lot, and aside from that injury, I don’t know for how long he will be missing, but we will not be able to count on him for some time. We are counting on Vukanović and Campbell tomorrow, because they want to be with the team, because that’s a precondition. Campbell is physically more ready, but Aleksa has a large experience and carries the character from the big club, which is what we need. We don’t know for how long they will be able to play, it depends on the situation on the pitch – Popović said.

The coach of Voša has once again reflected on the pressure that was created in the public due to bad results at the beginning of the season.

  • The expectations are necessary, but nobody can pressure me more than I can pressure myself, because I love to be the best. I don’t know whether the reception of the basketball players at the President’s office, and whether you heard the selector Svetislav Pešić, he said how we talk about the results here, but nobody talks about the process. I never saw that the result can be bought. Jurgen Klopp had been in Liverpool FC for five years before he managed to win the title. I can’t talk about this now, because it’s not the time, it will take long. We said that it was a failure when we played fantastic basketball at the European championship, but we played bad for 10 minutes, and that cost us, which is the living truth. Let’s look at things as they are. You won’t hear a lie from me, but when something is bad, I will be the first to say that, as well as when it’s good. I would like to thank the president Zbiljić on his support, because of the people from the Management board the most, because they are the ones who feel the outside pressures the most, while I am only interested in the pitch. I am not interested in the pressures outside the pitch. When the team starts playing like they did in Subotica, and when they start winning, the pressure will be gone. The people who invested their money into the Club deserve more respect and support. I want to start from ourselves, that we start sending signals from the pitch towards the stands, and to bring back the atmosphere we used to have, when I visited my brother-in-law and my sister, who went to the same place for 35 years to watch their Vojvodina – Popović highlighted.

The match between Vojvodina and Javor is scheduled for Saturday from 7pm, and the entrance to the stadium will be free.