Russian SEHA rookies to host Tatran in their first Play Off clash

Mindaugas Urbonas

Russian SEHA rookies Spartak will on Sunday (17:00 local time) host Tatran in the battle for SEHA - Gazprom League Quarter-final spot. As expected, both teams will be fully motivated to show everything on the court with the stakes obviously way higher than in the regular season. With the upcoming match being their premier home match in the new year, Spartak will look to deliver their best performance in front of their fans. Tatran are on the other hand aware they will need two solid performances in order to achieve the positive outcome they are hoping for.

Igor Levshin, Spartak coach:
We've spent a lot of time talking about Tatran and the way they are playing. We are preparing for the match as usual. This will be our first match of the year and we feel responsible to the fans. We'll do our best for the win.

Ilya Ryabov, Spartak player:
Whole team is ready to play. We know Tatran are not an easy opponent to play against having really good players. There are now many things we can surprise them with but we'll certainly do our best in front of our fans.

Slavko Goluza, Tatran Presov coach:
We have utmost respect for Spartak. There is no room for complacency and that will be a different team than the one in the regular season. These are Play-Offs and we can expect a strong home team which is why this will not be an easy match. If we want to get a positive result, we must deliver a very focused and strong performance.

Janus Lapajne, Tatran Presov player:
We are expecting Spartak team which will be much different and stronger than the team we saw in the regular season. We need to focus on our defense and keep it a low-scoring match as in order to boost our chances in the second leg match which will be played in Presov. After a couple of matches in our domestic league, we need recover and put all focus on this match. First two matches we've played in January were not according to our expectations and we have to put them behind us. Surely we are not going to Moscow to lose.