The coach of Vojvodina FC, Miroslav Tanjga and the captain, Slobodan Medojević are optimistic before the duel in Novi Pazar.

After a short break, and after two consecutive wins against the team of Mladost Lučani, players of the Old Lady are playing against the team of Novi Pazar on Wednesday in one direct duel for the place in Europe.

  • Expectations are always the same, and this match means a lot to us, and the players are aware of that, as well as everyone in the club, including the fans. We have been preparing the best we could, and we are going to Novi Pazar where we expect a good and combative match, and we are hoping for the positive result. We are aware that we are playing against the team that suddenly has all the doors open, thanks to their victory in Bačka Topola, Novi Pazar also has their own European dreams, which makes the situation more difficult for us, but we want to think only about ourselves and our game. We are going to Novi Pazar with a lot of optimism. We have some players whose condition is still not the best, like Aleksa Vukanović and Marko Veličković, who will not travel with us because they are not 100% in condition to play, and they will remain in Novi Sad where they can rest and get ready for the next match against TSC, which will also be important. We talked to Aleksa Vukanović, simply, he suffered a serious injury, and we don’t want to force him when he feels that he is not 100% ready. We decided that it was better to spare him and Veličković this time, so that they can stay and prepare for TSC. Also, Matija Gočmanac is still injured, so he is also not ready to play – Tanjga said.

The team captain, Slobodan Medojević also believes that this match has a huge significance because it can determine the direction of the fight for Europe.

  • We shouldn’t try and be smart, we all know that this match means to us and that it is practically another finale for us. We had plenty of time to prepare during this break, we have been working on the things that we have to correct, and those that were good we used to build our optimism. We are going to play against a team that rowed a couple of food results, and is now fighting for Europe, and those are certainly their ambitions. Pazar is a domestic team, they have an excellent coach, but we are Vojvodina and we know that each match is a new opportunity to record an important win, and that is how we are heading into this match – Medojević stated.

He also answered the question about Adem Ljajić, the best player of Novi Pazar.

  • By circumstances, I know Ljajić through many national selections, because he is a year younger than me. His career is a story in itself, and especially how he has been playing since he returned to Novi Pazar. We will pay attention to him, and we certainly have to respect his quality. The player who will guard him, is the one who finds himself in his zone, there’s not much to say about that. Of course he deserves everyone’s respect – Medojević said.

The head of staff, Miroslav Tanjga then answered to the statement that Vojvodina has been playing much better in the first half, and explained the reasons for ‘’falling’’ in the second half.

  • We talked a lot about that during this break, and I asked the guys to try and not make 2:0 lead in the first half, because whenever that was the case, we broke down in the second. It is better to give that second goal some time after 80th minute, all jokes aside, those are the facts. We start playing less responsibly and with insufficient focus in the second half. I think that we will make that better now, after the talks and the analyses we did. I believe that it was only a psychological problem, and that they are now aware of the situation, of what our goals are until the finish, and we have to wake up. I cannot say that they are not ready, but in their heads, they were still asleep, and every one of them knows that was the case. And that in the second halves we were weaker than we should have been, and that is something we need to correct. We won’t change our game style, but we just need to keep the focus during the entire 90 minutes, and not just 45. We have our game and our system, and we hope that it will bring us those 3 points – Tanjga highlighted.

The coach of Vojvodina believes that the team will continue the trend of good matches away, but also that until the end of the season they will be better at Karađorđe stadium.

  • I think that the players played under a lot of pressure at home, and maybe they expected that when the opponent comes to our territory the deal was done. This season it was not the case, everyone came to Novi Sad motivated, and if we don’t show them that we are dominant and that we are the hosts, rivals get more aggressive then, and that is when some individual mistakes happen. However, I don’t want to look back or criticise anyone. We might have been playing better away because we were not so stressed, but that time is in the past now – Tanjga underlined.

In the end, the head of staff of the Old Lady said that the ambience in Novi Pazar is especially motivating for the players, because unlike the previous match against them, this time the stands will be full of fans.

  • It is not the same to play against Novi Pazar with the fans, and without them, especially when it is a match like this one, which has a special importance for them in their fight for Europe. With a victory, they stand a chance, we would be equal in that fight. But each player wants to play in such an atmosphere, and to prove themselves. They will be loud, but that won’t be our issue, we have enough experienced players who played in such atmospheres. They themselves know that only the head wins at such stadiums, we have to be patient and know what we want – Miroslav Tanjga concluded.

The match between Vojvodina and Novi Pazar is scheduled for Wednesday, April 23rd at 4 pm. You can watch the live broadcast on Arena Premium 2 Channel.