Metalurg without Kuzmanovski in Belarus

Meshkov

After Metalurg managed to beat Meshkov Brest in Skopje last season, it is clear Belarusians will do everything they can in order to prove everyone it was nothing but a bad day hosting Macedonian vice-champions on Wednesday (18.15 local time). Match will be broadcasted on Macedonian MRT, BLR TV (Belarus), Arena Sport channels as well as Sport klub (Poland).

Hosts are without doubt clear favorites in this one, especially knowing the fact Macedonians are coming to Brest without one of their best players Filip Kuzmanovski. The right back Martin Velkovski will also miss the match due to an injury.

In the first round of the season, Meshkov managed to beat Izvidjac in Ljubuski without most of their first-team players while Metalurg delivered a strong resistance against Vardar failing to stun favored city rivals in the end.

Manolo Cadenas, Meshkov Brest coach:

This is a highly important match for us with a quality, Champions League bound team arriving to Brest. In the first round they managed to stay close to Vardar for about 40 minutes so we'll have to prepare thoroughly for this one. By that, we'll look to work on things we still have to improve.

Simon Razgor, Meshkov Brest player:

We respect every opponent because in modern handball you can’t underestimate anyone. Objective is of course to win the match. We’d like to deliver best possible performance in front of our fans and reach three new points.

Danilo Brestovac, Metalurg coach:

Duel against Meshkov will be another one in which we’ll be focused on improving our game. We’re still not playing our best handball but I feel like we’re on our way, we just need to work hard and I’m sure we’ll get there sooner rather than later.

Martin Tomovski, Metalurg goalkeeper:

Season just started and we’re still trying to build ourselves as a team. We displayed quality handball against Vardar but of course there is still much room for improvement. Match in Brest will be a serious test for us.