The head coach of the Blue-White-Sky Blues spoke about Lombaert’s condition, his desire to have won the championship today and evaluated Shatov, Arshavin and Danny’s play, as the website of the club informs. 

— Congratulations on your win.  We are waiting to find out when you are going to smile. Today was not just important as a win but also important because they showed the kind of game that we want to see from the leader of the league and Arshavin played a leading role. What do you think of Arshavin, Witsel, Shatov and Danny’s play today?
— It was a difficult game for us. We couldn’t play our football and we were losing our footing a lot and so we had to score to stop the anxiety and after the first goal the team started playing better and had more creativity and everyone improved individually —  From Shatov to Hulk to Danny. The second half was very good and I am very happy for these players. We wanted to win today for the fans on Victory Day, but unfortunately we couldn’t do it on Victory Day. 

— Congratulations on your win.  «Zenit» gets three points, but Lombaerts was injured and Smolnikov didn’t play. What is their condition? 
— After the first minute clash with Lodygin, he started feeling dizzy and couldn’t see properly. He was not feeling good and so we decided to take him out. He is good, everything is clear. But we were worried in the beginning, but everything is good. For Smolnikov, we had a training session at the end of the week that demand a lot of the players and some of the players were not feeling so good after that and some of them were feeling tired in the kicking muscles — in their quadriceps and hamstrings. This is what happened with Smolnikov. I know that this is my responsibility and I talked to the players and this won’t happen again, but as a result of that we lost Smolnikov today. I hope that he will already by ready next game. 

— Today Rondon played well but ended up getting another card that will keep him out of the championship match, emotions can get the best of you, but did you talk to him at all about this after the game since he won’t be able to play as a result of this? 
— Yes, it’s an unfortunate habit. Sometimes the players like to take their shirts off to celebrate, but it is an unfortunate habit.   I don’t think that he remembered this and this means that he is going to be out of the game with «Ufa»  for us. It is a pity because he is always smiling and ready to go and always plays as hard as he can but you can also give him his compliments because we know that we can always count on him. 

— In your scheme today you played with one defensive midfielder. Is this connected to the game with «Rostov» , or is it just a decision that thou made yourself?
— In the beginning of the game we started the usual way with Danny in the number 10 and a 4-3-2-1, it worked well for us in the second half and we were able to play our football better and Danny was able to play a lot of good balls from the left flank. We needed to make the change to 4-3-3 because of the team’s habits, but they really started to play well in the second half with this scheme. 

— You played Arshavin against «Spartak» and he really livened the game, today he was playing today from the beginning and the game was very good. Do you think that there is any influence with him on the pitch? 
— The only difference is that every player wants him to be involved in the beginning, sometimes it is better for players to be ready a day before the game. But the most important thing for the coaching staff is that the players are ready for the start. Some are on the bench and are fighting for a place in the starting eleven but we are all fighting for the championship, so all of them are important in the same way. 

— Is it true that Zenit is proposing to play the upcoming match here in St. Petersburg or is that just a rumor? 
— This is not in my power to control and I do not know what the outcome of the situation will be. 

— Right now your situation is a little more simpler since you  just have to win one more game, you just have to get three points in three games. How would you prefer to win on the pitch after a game, or by your opponent losing points? 
— Of course everyone wants to be champion as soon as possible means that if Amkar can win the game tomorrow that would be excellent. But we know what that is a very difficult situation and Krasnodar is in a great position. Of course Amkar needs points and they are fighting for a position to stay in the league. The recent games have shown that the teams at the bottom have a fighting spirit. It is not impossible, but it is difficult. If it were to happen then we would celebrate in the same way.