After their this season’s EHF Cup campaign came to an end due to a loss against Gorenje Velenje, Serbian vice-champs are now turning their focus completely towards SEHA - Gazprom League. Coach Vukovic and his players will most definitely do everything they can to use the competition in order to prepare in the best possible way for what’s waiting for them in domestic Super Liga Playoffs in April and the next chance to prove what they can will be on Thursday (17.00 CET) at home against Spartak. Hosts are waiting for the encounter in a good atmosphere after a close defeat in Zagreb but also motivated to take revenge after a narrow one (36:32) in Moscow in the first part of the season.
As of right now, teams are levelled at the bottom of their group with one victory and four defeats each which makes this clash even more interesting. Match will be broadcasted on Arena Sport (in Croatia), Arena Sport (in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and North Macedonia), Arena Sport (in Slovakia), VKontakte (in Russia, Belarus and Ukraine), Match TV (in Russia) and Sport TV (in Slovenia).

Veselin Vukovic, Metaloplastika coach:
We have good periods in every match we play and the goal is to prolong those periods game in and game out. We were playing really good throughout the first 45 minutes against Spartak in Moscow and then lost everything in a matter of few minutes. That’s however not something unusual for young teams. We’ve had some quality minutes in Zagreb and Velenje as well and I hope our players will keep on growing. Every time we go out there the goal is to win the match. On Thursday we’ll do our best to deliver a good outing and start preparing for what’s most important for us – domestic Play-Off. Kljajic, Milic and Dejan Babic haven’t been training recently due to a virus but all the other players are ready.

Nemanja Gojkovic, Metaloplastika player:
We are preparing for the match against Spartak and I would like to mention their two best players - left back Aleksander Dereven and right winger Dmitrii Kovalev who we struggled the most dealing with in our premier encounter of the season. However, atmosphere in the team is great and we are preparing well for this one.

Oleg Kuleshov, Spartak coach:
Trip to Sabac was 10 hours long and now we need some time to rest. We're sure Metaloplastika will look to take revenge and they have everything they need - young, quick players. They are playing really modern handball and have a well-balanced team which unfortunately at the moment we clearly don't. Goal is to play a good, fair match, hopefully without any injuries.

Dmitrii Kovalev, Spartak player:
We came here to prove we are a stronger team at the moment and we'll do everything we can to achieve that. They are playing good and fast which means we'll have to minimize errors. We are really tired but we'll do our best to prepare in the best possible way.