Advocaat wants match fitness from Russian trio
Russia's new manager d**k Advocaat has warned his players that a lack of playing time at the club level can result in exclusion from the national team.
Advocaat is especially concerned about the lack of first team football enjoyed by Premier League-trio Roman Pavlyuchenko, Diniyar Bilyaletdinov and Yuri Zhirkov.
"I’m not happy with the situation of Bilyaletdinov, Zhirkov and Pavlyuchenko not having regular match practice," Advocaat said, according to the Liverpool Echo. "This is very harmful to them and for success in national team they need to play more."
Zhirkov and Bilyaletdinov unfavoured
Advocaat, an honorary citizen of St. Petersburg following his successes as manager for local team Zenit between 2006 and 2009, took charge of the Russian national team on 1 July, succeeding his countryman Guus Hiddink at the post.
The manager's comments come just days before Russia's opening 2012 European Championship qualifier against Andorra on Friday.
Zhirkov, a versatile, left-sided player, joined Premier League champions Chelsea last summer but has only made 17 league appearances for the club.
Facing competition from Ashley Cole and Florent Malouda on the left flank, the 27-year-old has failed to make the impact that was expected.
Bilyaletdinov also moved to England last summer, joining Liverpool-side Everton.
Despite scoring 7 goals in 23 league appearances last season, the winger has been employed as a substitute by David Moyes in the last two league games.
Pavlyuchenko has failed to make an impact
Advocaat also expressed a particular concern for Tottenham's Pavlychenko, who has failed to impress for his club side in the opening days of the league season.
"Pavlyuchenko plays irregularly for Tottenham, though he played a full 45 minutes against Wigan and his team lost. He couldn’t help them. I think he needs to work even harder than he did before the Bulgaria friendly [earlier this month]."
Russia welcomes Slovakia in Moscow on 7 September after Friday's trip to Andorra.
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