The coach of Vojvodina FC, Nenad Lalatović, expects a difficult match in the fight for the placement to the quarterfinals of the Serbian Cup.

Players of the Old Lady are welcoming the team of Grafičar on Wednesday at 4pm, and Lalatović highlights that his players won’t underestimate the rival.

  • The Cup is an uncertain competition where one bad move can cost you the match, and eliminations. I like to be guided by the rule that we shouldn’t underestimate the opponent, because if you look at the strongest European leagues, it often happens that the favourites lose to the outsiders, because they don’t enter the game as they should. We certainly won’t underestimate Grafičar, we know they are a branch of the Red Star, that they make big transfers, and certainly have great work conditions. The first man of the club, Mr. Govedarica has done plenty for the club. I watched a game from the last season at Marakana, when Grafičar had the lead of 1:0, Nikola Čumić entered the match and scored in the 88th minute, and Voša won after a penalty series. Just like that, Grafičar gave trouble to Partizan a few years ago, and thereby showed that they could compete with the teams from Super League, because they have players who came from the Red Star. We have to be cautious, that is what I told the players at our meeting, and we want to be ready for everything. We are favourites, but we have to give our all. Our goal is to qualify for the quarterfinals, and be one step closer to the finale. I said before that my wish is to win the Cup trophy with Vojvodina once again, and enter the group stage of UEFA competitions. I am not running away from that, I will give my best, but my players should also do so on the pitch. We played an excellent game in Novi Pazar, regained that confidence that had been shaken after the draws against Mladost and Tekstilac. I hope that the players are mentally more positive, the atmosphere is excellent, we are prepared for the game, and today we will conduct our final training session. I will go with the strongest possible lineup at this moment, because I don’t want to underestimate the excellent team of Grafičar – Lalatović said.

He confirmed that he won’t make many rotations, and that Đorđe Crnomarković is finally back after a break.

  • Those who get their chance, deserve to play. We have 25 players, and the same players cannot play all the matches. Crnomarković is also in the process of training; after dealing with a fever, he is ready for this match. I might spare a player or two, because we want to bring the trophy to Novi Sad. Our players are professionals, they have to get used to playing in this rhythm Wednesday-Sunday, that is what they are paid for. We know that after this match we have two derbies with the direct rivals in the fight for Europe, but there is nothing we should save ourselves for. In this moment I only care about Grafičar, because the president Zbiljić, the fans, the staff and myself, we all deserve the placement to the quarterfinals – Lalatović underlined.

 

In the end, he wished Bamidele to continue his goal getting series, after scoring 4 goals in Novi Pazar.

  • I wish Bamidele would continue his goal getting series, because he is more of a wing player. If he scores one goal per each of the following four matches, I will be pleased – Nenad Lalatović concluded.

The match between Vojvodina and Grafičar is scheduled for Wednesday at 4pm, with a live broadcast at Arena Premium 2.