Vladislav Lupashko ahead of Polonia Bytom vs Lechia

Ahead of Sunday’s clash in Bytom, head coach Vladislav Lupashko met with journalists at a press conference. The White-and-Greens’ coach discussed the team’s preparations for the match against Polonia and shared his plans for the upcoming international break.

On Tomasz Neugebauer’s fitness:

The medical staff are taking care of Tomek, who suffered a foot injury. He still needs some time before he can return to action.

On whether Narek Hovhannisyan is ready to play:

He has already started training with the whole team, which is good news for us. If everything goes well, he will also be able to play for his national team.

On Sunday’s match being played on an artificial pitch:

Playing on this type of surface always comes with certain challenges, so we need to prepare for it. We watched all the teams that lost in Bytom, and I think they weren’t mentally prepared for those conditions. Polonia at home and away are two completely different teams. They are much more confident at their own stadium. You can even see from the way they control the ball how familiar they are with their pitch.

Polonia also had five days to prepare for the match, so that’s not an advantage for us. They played their previous game at home and will now play at their own stadium again, so they don’t have to spend time travelling across Poland. We’re on equal terms in that respect.

On Lechia’s plans for the international break:

First, we’ll give the players a short break, and then we’ll play a friendly against an Ekstraklasa team. After that, the players will have a little more time off before we return to our regular weekly training schedule.