The coach of Vojvodina Nenad Lalatović is ready for his comeback derby at the bench of the Old Lady.

Jedinstvo from Ub will be the first rival of Vojvodina FC with Nenad Lalatović on the bench, who is the coach of Vojvodina for the third time, and believes in the positive result and a better game in the match of the 12th round of MozzartBet Superleague of Serbia.

  • I am glad to be back home and with my Vojvodina. When I left two and a half years ago, I never actually left, because this is the club that I love and the club in which I love to work. We analyzed Jedinstvo and were thinking only about that match, precisely because the hardest matches are the ones which are ‘’won’’ in advance. We don’t have a magic stick with which we will go to Ub where the home team won’t have a say, that is not at all how it works. Ub has a great team with great individuals and it is impossible for me that they are at the last place on the scoreboard, precisely because of the people who lead the club like Mr. Matić. We have to be motivated, like they will certainly be motivated against us. We cannot think that we will win just because we wear the jersey of Vojvodina. We have to improve the defence, because we receive too many goals. We received three from Čukarički, TSC, and Radnički, and we lost to Novi Pazar and I spoke to the players about that, because football is played in both directions, not just with the ball. We first have to correct that, try not to receive the goal, and when we succeed in doing that, then our quality will bring those goals. I wouldn’t waste words on talking about the offensive characteristics, I talked about that with the president Zbiljić and the sports director Marko Jovanović. I cannot understand that Vojvodina missed the chance to play the group stage of the Conference League, which TSC managed twice. Next year, Vojvodina has to play the group stage and that is my great desire, as well as to win the trophies and to win, starting with Saturday from 6 pm, and I hope that we will return from Ub with 3 points won. This team deserves to be among the three top teams in Serbia – Lalatović said.

He also reflected on the previous friendly match against Zenit.

  • Of course, Zenit showed us a lot, but I have to repeat again that we arrived at 5 am, and played without a few of our standard players in the evening. However, we received 4 goals, and that is when we saw our defence game one more time, which doesn’t start from the defence, but from the offence. We have to be aggressive, be closer to the player, show bigger desire. I am certain that my players will change that soon, which could be seen at the training sessions during the week. The demands are different, the team has to be physically read and I believe that we will be in better form. The pitch there is not too big or quality pitch, I expect a lot of fans and a true spectacle. We will always go for the win, but for that we need to be hungry and show that on the pitch – Lalatović highlighted.

The coach of Vojvodina FC announced that Caleb Sery and Marko Poletanović are ready, and that they will be considered for the lineup on Saturday.

  • Sery and Poletanović are ready and will be in the lineup for the match. There will certainly be some changes, but you know that I am not a fan of rotations, and that I don’t like to change a winning team. It is simple, only the best play for me, I don’t care about the name or last name, only that Vojvodina wins and that I see the results. Those who train the best and who show the desire to bring Vojvodina to its former glory, will play – Lalatović underlined.

He also believes that the team has to learn how to play in different formations, because during the games there will certainly be changes in accordance with the result.

  • The team has to know how to play in all formations, and I believe that it sometimes needed to change the formation in the matches they lost, like the one against Kragujevac when Vojvodina had the lead of 2:0, and here against Radnički from Niš. I don’t see a problem to change the formation in the last 15-20 minutes when we have the lead, and save the victory like that.

In the end, he commented on the fact that due to the injury of Aleksa Vukanović, and because Mihailo Ivanović left, the team was forced to find a solution in the attack in the middle of the season.

  • Unfortunately, we cannot count on Vukanović, but I am sure that he will return stronger, and that he will bring a lot of joy to the fans of Vojvodina. It won’t be easy to find that true goal getter, we have a few options, but when the attacker scores, then the whole team takes the credit. Also, when I say that the defence is weaker, I don’t say that because of the defensive players, but because a mistake had been made somewhere before. That is why we always have to play like the team and attack the net more, and I believe that we will be more efficient. I am pleased with the players; it is not easy to adapt to my demands. I think that we will make it, because they have an unbelievable quality and potential, and they absolutely deserve to wear the jersey of Vojvodina FC. I am certain that they will show that on Saturday, and that Vojvodina is seventh by mistake, and that the failures at home were also by mistake, and that we will keep getting better, because I already see improvements during the training – Nenad Lalatović concluded.

The match between Jedinstvo and Vojvodina is scheduled for Saturday at 6 pm, with a live broadcast on Arena Sport 1.