Our team has a very tough away game in the 5th round of League 2. Politehnica plays on the field of newly promoted Oțelul Galati, an undefeated team in the first four rounds.

“It’s a difficult trip, a strong team, even if they are newly promoted they are a healthy club. They are very well structured, very well prepared and from my point of view it’s a team that has a real chance of catching the play-off and then, further on, even possibly promoting to League One. They are a disciplined team, we know Dorinel Munteanu’s style very well, a hard-working, tough team, especially on home ground, that’s why we have to arrive at the game time very well motivated, very well prepared, to try to cause problems on the offensive phase and it’s mandatory to get a positive result in Saturday’s match”, said Bogdan Andone, Politehnica’s head coach.

“Unfortunately the injury problem is not getting around us. I was even talking to the guys on staff, I don’t think even once the team we had in our heads played, which in my vision would have been a first 11, the team that played in Slovenia. All the time there was one or two injured players, and for these reasons I had to change the team all the time, which I don’t like at all. And the system of play, the same thing, for the same reasons, because of the injured players, the problems that we had with the players absent because of red cards. Basically, starting with the first leg, the first half, with Gologan’s injury and then Denis Radu’s red card, game after game we had to improvise in terms of players in other positions and in terms of the system of play to try to have as good a balance as possible in the team. Unfortunately these problems are not over, we are still looking for the right system for our team. Depending on the players we have available at each stage. I repeat, this is not what I want, I don’t like it. Practically from match to match we have to improvise, to find solutions and this doesn’t help the players to express themselves and the team”, said the blue and white coach.

Politehnica will not be able to rely on Alin Ignea (suspended), Adrian Zaluschi and Daniel Benzar, besides the young Luchian Gologan and Cosmin Huminic (with old medical problems). The latter “will be out for a longer period of time, probably two-three weeks, hopefully two-three weeks, not longer. So we will have to find solutions on the offensive side again. To make up for their absences, unfortunately there are two important players for the team on the attacking side, two players who execute. Maybe that’s also one of the reasons why the team has scored so little this season”.

Asked about the talks about terminating contracts with some players, Andone replied, “I will not personally sack players. That’s the club’s decision, a joint decision from many points of view, both sporting and financial and as a strategy. We’ll see what happens, the important thing now is to focus on the match. That’s the most important thing, the match on Saturday, and then we’ll see what the discussions will be and what the final outcome will be. By Saturday probably nobody will leave.”

“It’s going to be a tough game, Oțelul is a very good team at the beginning of the championship. I’ve even watched two of their games, they’re an aggressive team and we’ll definitely have a tough match. Really there are these negative results that we certainly wouldn’t have wanted, but hopefully in the next game we will play a good game and get a good result and gain confidence. Because that’s what we lack. But with a good game and a positive result, we will definitely gain more confidence and get the results we want,” said midfielder Silviu Pană.

“I settled in as well as I could, I would have liked to play better, to help my team a lot more and to have other results,” added the player who arrived in the summer from Petrolul.

The match ACS Suporter Club Oțelul Galati – Politehnica Timisoara will be played on Saturday at 11.30 am (broadcasted by Digi Sport 1, Orange Sport 1, Prima Sport), in the 5th round of League 2. Before this game, the Moldovans are in 5th position, with eight points obtained from the first four games, while the white-violets are only on 15th, with four points accumulated from as many games played.