Yuri Krasnozhan has hailed Kuban Krasnodar’s 1-0 win in the Russian Cup round-of-16 against their arch rivals and has denied tardiness because of hectic schedule
Kuban Krasnodar head coach, Yuri Krasnozhan, has showered praise on his team despite a narrow victory against their noisy neighbours, FC Krasnodar, in the Russian Cup pre-quarter finals at Kuban Stadion on Tuesday.
Marcos Pizzelli was the only goal scorer of the mouthwatering encounter, who helped his side in reaching the round-of-8 of the cup tournament.
But the Russian media has still criticized Krasnozhan for not including in-form striker, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Ibrahima-Baldé-c16609, in the starting line-ups despite their fantastic win against the Asians in the tournament.
Krasnozhan, who joined the Russian outfit after Dan Petrescu’s shocking departure this summer, revealed that he wanted to save the Senegalese player for their next Russian Premier League meeting against Amkar Perm on the away turf.
With the Krasnodar-based club preparing for their fourth fixture in ten days when they lock horns with Rostov in the league clash, the hectic schedule of games does not seem to panic Krasnozhan.
The former Lokomotiv Moscow boss admitted that Baldé is an important player for them, insisting that the prolific forward helped them in claiming more points on the league table recently.
As things stand, Kuban area the 6th spot on the league table and trail Anzhi Makhachkala by eight points.
“Baldé got a break today because of the vague game in the last match and I gave him a rest before our next league meeting. I think that we all have to support the guy. He gives one hundred percent in every game and he is a team
player.”
“And today we wanted to give a chance to those guys who do not play often- Niculae. I made this decision regardless of the player forms.” The former Spartak Nalchik man was quoted as saying.
News in Russian media suggested that Baldé picked up an injury during a routine workout. However, Krasnozhan has denied such reports, saying that the 23-year-old attacker is fit for the next league clash.
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