The Zenit Manager on his six-match ban, the challenge of preparing for CSKA and the strength of the opposition, the Champions League and leaving the club at the end of the season.

- Today we have the first chance to find out what you think about your six game ban. How do you feel about it? And who will perform your duties on the bench?

- Regarding the suspention there is not a lot to say, the rules and the description of the law are very clear and there wasn't any chance to come back with any strong argument, in the meeting with the football union I didn't dispute any kind of argument rgearding the law. It was a mistake by myself regarding the push and there is nothing else to say, I think it's very servere because there are other incidents in Europe where you don't see this kind of amount of games, but bearing in mind that it's written in the law it's very difficult to argue with. Regarding the bench, there is no number 1, number 2 or number 3, we are all techincal staff and we all hope to lead the team.

- There are a lot of games left in the season but will a defeat in Moscow mean the title race is over?

-  No I don't think so because you know last year we were 11 points infront about November, or 10 points so here in the Russian championship the winner wins with six defeats like in the first year that I arrived. I don't think it means nothing, we still have to compete. This year we have Spatak and Locomotiv also competing for the title which means the direct comfrontations will be important so the championship will still be open, of course being 9 points behind is not good for a team like Zenit but we believe we can still invert the situation.

- Will you appeal the decision of the suspention? Will your absence from the bench be an advantage for CSKA?

- First of all I think whatever you do in the training session is more important for the preperation of the game, more than presence the coach on the bench, Of course sometimes to transmit instructions is easier when the coach is there, of course also important but I wouldn't say it's absolutely important, what is absolutely important is what you do on the training pitch. Regarding the appeal, there is no possibility to appeal, according to the club lawyer the law doesn't allow that to happen. So we just have to do the suspention.

- How will the recent international matches affect the game does it make the situation special?

- No it doesn't make it special, Every game after the national team break is not good for any team because the teams come from different training processes and they arrive tired and they arrive from trips so the most important is to recover the players phycisally and mentally. Everybody now has to turn their attention to club level, there isn't a lot of time, today tomorrow and then we are going to Moscow so it is never an easy situation and with the Champions League it makes it difficult because we have to play this Saturday so we just have to recover the players mentally and physically.

- What do you think of their team at the moment and have CSKA changed from last season? 

- First of all I think that CSKA haven't changed much for the last 6 or 7 seasons, they are the same team, the same basis, the same foundation , the same organisation. It's the team that has changed little, they can almost play with their eyes closed because they have this organisation for quite some time and it's brought them so much success. But they believe in it, they have strength in the team, they have Doumbia back, another player that was there for a long time. Its very very good and has brought them so much success they believe in it. Regarding injuries, Shatov did not train today but I believe he'll be alright.

- There is a lot of talk about your future. How is this situation for you? Is there any chance that you will extend your contract, which will end next year?

- Regarding my contract extention the club offered it to me at the end of last season but I did not accept, as I told you last week I propose to leave the club. So the contract extenion is not a possibility and at the end of this i'll leave the club. Regarding the situation right now we just have to continue, try to do the best result possible and change the sitiuation. We have a good chance in the Champions League although the squad is very limited, we don't have enough players and no players were bought in the transfer window, apart from the ones who were bought in the begining, a lot of players were sold, the rules have changed and although the squad is small we will do our best to make it through the group stages of the Champions League.      

- In this situation where you have a limited squad are you ready to take advantage of players from Zenit-2?

- Yes, at the moment we have brought a few players in, bearing in mind we didn't do anything in the transfer market our only solution is to look down. We were waiting for the club to do more in the transfer window, it was not the case so we have brought a few players from Zenit-2, it's also important for Zenit-2 to look in the reserves to strengthen their squad, they've done well with Simutenkov we will see how  Vasilyev, Karpov and Tkachuk will progress, these players will most likely stay with us, it's not 100% sure but at the moment they are training with us and we will see.