Politehnica Timisoara will play on Good Friday at the last place in Group A of the play-out, Dacia Unirea Braila.

“It’s a game against Braila that comes after a hard, very hard week, following the result we recorded last time. A result that takes us out of the fight to avoid the play-off place and, for sure, a result that puts us in a totally unfavourable light. We are playing in Brașov, we hope to regroup, we hope that in these three games that we still have to play to prepare the play-off games with Brașov, so that we don’t have to live such moments”, said Nicolae Croitoru, Politehnica’s head coach.

“Theoretically, on paper, Braila is an accessible opponent, if we look at their ranking line. They are a team that has come to terms with their situation, but they have respected the competition and, even if they haven’t managed good results, they have still presented themselves quite well for their situation in the games they have played. But I think the focus should be on us, because we have some issues to sort out, hopefully the game against Braila will be a restart. And, as I said earlier, let it be a start that will help us prepare the play-off games”, said the white-violet’s coach.

Unfortunately Adrian Zaluschi and George Păduraru will definitely be missing from our squad due to medical reasons. The former suffered a partial collateral ligament tear in the match against CSC Șelimbăr and will return in about three to four weeks.

Asked about the information that the play-off might no longer have a real stake (the loser would remain in League 2), Nicu Croitoru pointed out: “I know about this information, I know that it is being circulated and certain things have appeared in the press, but, in my opinion, the play-off is just as important until an official information appears… Because if you think about it, over time, year after year, information like this appears, which is more or less confirmed. I think it would be a mistake to go on the idea that the play-offs will no longer be important, because I don’t know if it’s the right thing for us at this moment, I think we have to stay focused, evaluate ourselves exactly, know where we are, see what steps we have to take and, after the three games we still have to play, get back to a good level of play”.

The match Dacia Unirea Braila – Politehnica Timisoara will be played on Friday, April 22, at 11:00, in the 5th round of the play-out of League 2, group A. The white-violet are in 5th position, with 24 points, while the hosts are in 7th place, last, with 5 points. In the regular season our team won the match played at the “Dan Paltinisanu” arena, scoring 2-0.