Jop: The players will be 100% ready for Saturday

The friendly against Hutnik concluded Wisła's preparations for the league season. Next week, they will focus on their nearest rival, Znicz Pruszków.

"Most matches have different moments, and this match was no different. The positive thing was that although the conditions weren't ideal, we tried to build attacks with many passes. Just like we usually do. Of course, there were also moments of difficulty building these attacks, because sometimes we held the ball too long, but that also resulted from the fact that we had to adjust it again and again because the pitch isn't perfect. And that's natural at this time of year. We have to be prepared for the fact that in the first spring matches, the pitches won't be perfect. To sum up the entire preparation period, this last week wasn't easy for the team. We didn't prepare for this match, like for any other, we didn't follow a normal micro-cycle, but there was still some work to be done, and it was also clear that the team isn't completely fresh yet. The players will be 100% ready for next Saturday. We have a normal micro-cycle ahead of us, a classic one. The positive thing is that we don't have any new health problems regarding the players who played against Hutnik. We are also waiting for the players who are recovering from injuries or minor infections," began coach Mariusz Jop.

Tamas Kiss and Olivier Sukiennicki were missing from the squad for the friendly against Hutnik, a fact the coach addressed. "These are the two players who are battling infections. They came down with the classic stomach flu, a common occurrence at this time of year. 'Suknia' is almost fully recovered; after a two-day break from training, he returned to our center in Myślenice on Saturday. He had a light training session. Tamas contracted the infection on Friday, so he stayed home," he explained. "We hope this infection won't spread widely, and at this time of year, it's impossible to completely eliminate it. Children go to preschool and school. It's difficult to separate players from their families. We're trying to prevent it, of course, and minimize the risk, but it's impossible to completely eliminate such things," he added.

Karol Dziedzic, who was previously considered for a loan move, is training with the team. What is the midfielder's status? "We'll see what our squad ultimately looks like. If it's in the current shape, Karol will stay at Wisła. For now, he, Yehor Khromykh, and Kacper Skrobański will play in the second team's friendly against MFK Karvina's reserves to ensure he gets 90 minutes of action. We'll see what happens with Karol in the near future," he said. Enis Fazlagić, who was training on the sidelines, was also missing: "He's with us, but he has some minor health problems, so he trained individually that day," he added.

Right back is a position on the pitch where there's no shortage of competition. This time, Dawid Szot was in the starting lineup. When asked if he would be in the starting eleven against Znicz, the coach replied: "I don't think there's the greatest competition there, because we also have it in central defense and on the flanks. Above all, there's healthy competition between players. Maybe not in all positions, but in most, and that's very positive because it helps the players raise their level, and as a result, the team performs better." "Just because someone started the match from the beginning doesn't mean they're higher in the hierarchy. During these friendlies, various factors determined who played and how much. There were many changes to the starting eleven. Sometimes other aspects were taken into account, for example, minor muscle ailments, and we wanted to include these players in the lineup from the start, because it was even a matter of warming up with the team. These are small but very important things. In the friendlies, there was no first and second lineup; there was rotation. But I mostly have the lineup in mind for the first match, although there are still some doubts about two or three positions. The last week will show who wins this competition in the first match. The most important thing is the team and that we start the league spring with the optimal lineup for the time being," he said.