Tomas Hubschman: "Vorskla’s pitch is too soft – hard to play on."

- Tomas, if we don’t take into account the previous season, Shakhtar lost points in Poltava for three years in a row. Why do you think it so happens? Can Vorskla be called troublesome opponents?

- It's hard to say. If I knew why it happened so, I would probably have done everything possible to eliminate it. Probably you are right, there are some opponents who are more convenient for Shakhtar. Vorskla know how to play us, and they managed to nick points from us. For us, Vorskla are always a challenge when we play away. There are several reasons for that. Theur pitch is not that good, it’s very soft, so the visiting team always find it difficult to play there. It’s easier for Vorskla in this respect, because for them just one point in the game against us is already a victory. The same happened before: having drawn it with Shakhtar, they rejoiced over it as if they’d won the Champions League title. But I think this is normal, because Shakhtar are not an ordinary outfit, and any opponents show their maximum against us, trying to achieve a positive result.

- Currently, Vorskla are just 9 points away from the relegation zone. Maybe this is a reason for them to not close up defensively and attack a bit?

- To be honest, I don’t know how Vorskla will play. It's their problem. I look at my team. We also experience some difficulties at the moment. But no one asks if we have them or not. Everyone looks solely at the result. Therefore, we need to show our game and win.

- It is clear that the team are not in the best mood now. Will the victory in Poltava help you to forget the Champions League failure?

- I think it’s very hard to forget such things. Both bad and good always come back in one’s memory. We will be able to make it to the Champions League only next season. Now we have to work again and do our best to at least reach the same level. So, just one game against Vorskla, or, simirlalry, against any other team, does not solve anything in this sense.

FC Shakhtar
Press Office