Pejcinovic: Our chief rival is us

Lokomotiv defender Nemanja Pejcinovic shared some of his thoughts about the clash with Rubin in Gameweek 22 of the Russian Premier League.

- Nemanja, in every appearance on the right side of defence, we see you gain something in terms of quality. How do you do that?

- Indeed, this was my fifth game already in the position of right fullback. It is a demanding role because I have much more running to do. I don’t feel comfortable with it – it was not a choice to make - but I am committed to it in order to serve my team better. I believe that together with Samedov we are doing fine and understand each other. Today’s encounter was very strenuous. Rubin knew that we would search for victory to secure third spot on the table. And we are yet to face CSKA and Zenit…

- Speaking about the matches with CSKA and Zenit, what result would be acceptable?

- We want to win, of course, but drawing those matches would be a good result, too.

- In the build-up to attacks we often saw you run as far as the penalty area. Did you train this during team practice sessions?

- Yes, we did try it. Our coach told us Rubin’s left-back was short of stature. I had a good moment during the first half. All in all, the whole team played very well.

- How does the squad feel about Corluka’s injury?

- Each sustained injury is bad news for us. We do hope, however, that our skipper will be all right and back on track soon.

- By the by, we asked Shishkin what he thought of your performance. He said you did everything well.

- I hope, Roman will be also fit for action soon, after the recovery – we can't wait for him to return to the pitch. Competition does the team good. Roman has been playing as right wing-back for years. He is a pro.

- Skuletic used his chance and scored. Did you cheer him up before the play?

- Yes, of course! It is hard for a forward to warm the bench and watch how others score. Today Petar was at par.

- Who is your squad’s chief rival?

- It us. If we play the way we should we can win games and go all the way to the top. I would like to say ‘Thank you’ to our fans for the support they have given us this night, and for all those times they are with us. You are the 12th player. We have to stick together – team on the field, fans at the grandstands. And in the final run, I think, it will make us all happy.