In the fourth round of the Super League of Serbia, on Sunday Vojvodina will play against Radnik in Surdulica. After the first three rounds, in which it recorded all three victories, Voša is at the top of the table, and it can be said that ahead of this match it has the role of a slight favorite.
Still, according to Nenad Lalatović, Manager of red and whites, it will not be easy for his team to achieve a fourth consecutive triumph.
– I can definitely say that this will be the most difficult game for us in the first four rounds. I spent a year in the south of Serbia and I know the team from Surdulica very well, just like the people who run this club, who do not love it, they adore it. Novica Tončev gives 100 percent of himself to Radnik and he brought some high quality players, which they showed with a victory over Spartak at home with a score of 4-0. They have a new coach and big ambitions this season, in which they want to play in the playoffs. They lost the last match and will surely want to beat Vojvodina, but in order to stay in the position where it is now, Vojvodina must win as well – Lalatović points out.
He is pleased with what his team has shown in the first three rounds of this season.
– We deserve to be where we are, because in the first three rounds we really played well and efficiently, so I am glad that the players on the pitch fulfilled what I asked them to do and showed that they have a very high quality. In the first line-up, we have eight players who carried the biggest burden last season, and I told them that I believe in them and that I will not rotate much. I said last season too that they have very good quality, because Vojvodina played very well under Krivokapić, whom I have to praise and who is a great coach, but they were not fortunate enough, which is necessary in order to make results in football. We had luck in the first three rounds, because everything was going well for us – notes Lalatović.
The Manager points out that there are some very interesting players in Radnik.
– Radnik has high quality wing players, who are phenomenal in one-on-one situations. There is also Uroš Damjanović, whom I trained at Radnički from Niš, although he did not play much because of injury, and he has a great left foot. He now plays regularly, previously he played in Slovan and represents one phenomenal attacking midfielder. They signed Makarić from Radnički from Niš, Kostić who is a super-experienced player, and they also returned a representative goalkeeper who signed for Red Star and who will surely be at the goal – says Lalatović.
What particularly pleases him is the growing and intimate relationship between red and whites.
– We have a tough game ahead, but what I like to see at my players’ training sessions is that the players are in a great mood and the atmosphere is getting better. The players started hanging out, having a drink downtown and staying an hour and a half together after training, instead of going home immediately, which was not the case before. I want them to unite because it creates a good atmosphere, and good results come from the good atmosphere. I hope that we will come back from Surdulica with a favorable outcome – says Lalatović.
In this match, Vojvodina will not be complete.
– In addition to the previously injured Čović and Vasiljević, we will not be able to count on Đuričin, who has a frontal lobe injury, while Vučić got injured in a friendly game against Proleter. The two of them will be back on the pitch in three to four days, but I won’t be able to count on them in this match. All the other players are ready, I have full trust in them and I am convinced that they will play the game the way I want – Lalatović points out.
After good results in the first three rounds, the expectations of the sports public and fans from Vojvodina are much higher than they were, but this does not create pressure in the squad of Voša.
– There is no reason for that, as we have a difficult away match. I watched the match between Radnik and Vojvodina in Surdulica last season, where, in my opinion, Rockov was the player of the match, because Radnik dominated and Vojvodina won from one shot. Vojvodina has never dominated there, so I would be pleased to win with just one goal difference. However, we are not burdened with this, because our goal is not to be the first, but to qualify to Europe. This team, with this management and such wonderful fans, that I have to praise since we scored five goals in last round and were able to be even more efficient thanks to their support, I’m sure that it can do it – said Lalatović.
The match between Radnik and Vojvodina is scheduled for Sunday at FK Radnik Stadium in Surdulica, starting at 8 pm.
