Ruslan ROTANI: “Mudryk has all the qualities to play a centre-back”

Ruslan Rotan, acting coach of the Ukrainian national team, answered the questions of journalists before the test match to be played with Brentford, while preparing for the first match of the Euro 2024 qualifiers with England.

Training will take place on March 23, and the match against England on March 26.

About Mudrik: “Mikhail is a talent that will show his full potential. I’m sure he’ll be at the top of the Premier League in a few months. Now motivated, he wants to play at Wembley. This is a diamond, we should value and trust such players. He must feel that he is an important player for the national team and for Chelsea.

About the injury situation: Zabarny will not play for England, he is not ready after his injury. Yarmolenko has an injury, he trains individually. He has time, he has a chance to play. Also, Sidorchuk and Tsygankov got a little sick, but I think in a day everything will be alright.”

About the marijuana situation: “Efim called and said he couldn’t work 100%. I told him to consult the doctors and see if he’s ready to play. He called back and said he wanted to take a break and get better. No problem, we called Miroshnichenko too.”

As for the situation in Ukraine: This match at Wembley is not just a match for players or managers, it is a match for the whole country. And I want to thank the people of Great Britain for helping us fight our enemy. And your support is very important to us, we are very grateful to you. And this match is for our warriors who protect us. We understand that what is happening in Ukraine is very frightening. We must please everyone with the game and the result, give some positive emotions. We are playing with an opponent, in my opinion top 5 in the world. We need to come together and show the result.”

On supporting Ukrainians in London: Here we rely on those who support us. This is important to us. And I ask for a friendly atmosphere at Wembley, even if it’s a struggle on the pitch.

About the atmosphere in the team: “Zinchenko, Mikolenko, Yarmolenko and Zabarny are very professional players who support the country. Someone no longer plays in the Premier League, someone continues to take part in this championship, and these are the team leaders that young players look up to. I hope that in the future Ukrainian players will continue to fill the Premier League squads. It will be very good for the Ukrainian team.”

About Zinchenko’s match at Arsenal: “I believe Zinchenko’s football intelligence has now reached a fantastic level. I like your football. Football becomes incredible when there are thinking players on the field. Alexander made great progress. The more such players, the better for football.”

About whether Mudrik can play in the middle of the offense: “Tomorrow we have a practice match with Brentford, there we will look at important connections and draw conclusions before England. I want to say that anything is possible, Mikhail can play there. He has all the qualities of a striker.”

Attitude of Russia and its rivals to control matches: “Those who agree to play with Russia support what the aggressor country is doing. We need to pay less attention to these countries and this Russia. They don’t deserve any attention. It’s not even worth remembering Russia and these countries playing with them.”