"This squad is capable of playing in the Premier League"

The Russian football season is gradually coming to an end. Among other things, the winners of the national championship in the first league will soon be determined, where three rounds before the end it is unclear who will enter the Russian Premier League (RPL) directly from the first two places, and who will try to break into it through transitional matches in which the third and fourth teams should participate. So far, the Voronezh "Torch" is the first, the Moscow "Rodina" is the second. She is only one point ahead of Ural Yekaterinburg, which is in third place.

In the last round, the team could have dropped out of the direct entry zone to the RPL in the transition zone when it played Ufa at home, and its player Artem Meshchaninov was removed from the field in the middle of the second half. But at the very end of the match, Rodina outnumbered them (1-0) thanks to a goal from their striker Artyom Maksimenko, who is fighting for the title of the top scorer of the current First League draw with 14 goals scored. In an interview with Izvestia, the 27-year-old football player spoke about his goal to reach the RPL, assessed how ready the current Rodina squad is to play in the elite, and also recalled how he trained with Alexander Kokorin at Zenit.

— How did Ufa manage to put the squeeze on the minority?

— It's a tough game. I would even say one of the best of the season. We were able to put the squeeze on everyone in the team due to the great desire to play in another league next season. We live by it and do everything possible to achieve it.

— In recent rounds, Rodina began to lose points and lost a fairly comfortable lead over Ural. Can we say that you trembled from the proximity of the exit to the RPL?

— Actually, we have the hardest league in terms of achieving results. They often play number two against us, they don't give us much space in the penalty area — as an attacking player, as a striker, I can say that it's very difficult to achieve results in the first league. Any team can win against any team. As such, no one may have a huge advantage in points. That's why we've had some misfires lately, but after the match with Ufa, we probably regained our confidence in our abilities. As someone who watched the first half from the bench and played the second, I want to say that even when we were outnumbered, we created chances. And in the end, we did what we had to do. And in this league, we have to beat our opponents sometimes on character, sometimes on some kind of class. And our team still has a certain class - Rodina has a very good squad for this league.

— In terms of space, will it be easier for Rodina to attack in the RPL if she goes there?

— In the RPL, to a greater extent, the teams themselves play and let the opponent play. Therefore, to some extent it will be even easier to play there (smiles). Even when you watch the Premier League matches from the sidelines, it feels like that. Anyway, I can say that from the perspective of a goalscorer.

— If Rodina enters the RPL, will the team need some kind of global reinforcement? Or is it possible to stay in the Premier League with the current selection of players?

— I think this squad is capable of playing in the Premier League. Even now, without sufficient reinforcement. But it's not up to us to decide who will leave the team in the offseason, but who will join it.

— How do you personally and your team as a whole manage to have such a successful season?

— Our motivation is high. All Rodina's players have the same goal. As in principle, the club itself has such a task. Rodina is already close to entering the RPL for the third time. I hope this is the season that will really be successful globally. And for the club, including for me.

— You played in Sokol a year ago, which is at the bottom of the first league table then and now. Are the conditions in Rodina much higher than in Saratov?

— Yes, higher, of course. There are high-quality training fields, hotel accommodation on field trips, and flights. And the very possibility of winter training camps in Dubai and Turkey on good fields speaks volumes. Of course, when you come from there and return, for example, to rainy Khimki, you face this, both as part of Rodina and as part of Sokol. But still, the level of conditions at my current club plays a role. And he's comparable to what happened at Ural when I played for him in the RPL.

— Do you believe that enough fans will go to Rodina in the RPL, despite the fact that the club has been around for very few years and will be the fifth Moscow team in the Premier League?

— I would really like there to be no problems with attendance. But I think our club is developing in this regard. Rodina already has fans, and there are a lot of them. I am sure we will have good support even in possible games with Spartak, CSKA and Lokomotiv, which have a lot of fans.

— When you were young, you played in the second league for Zenit-2. Was there a time when Zenit's first team was involved in training?

— Yes, when part of the base went to their national teams, I was involved in the base. Moreover, I showed myself well in the training process and the two-way games. But there wasn't much chance of gaining a foothold.

— Were any of the Zenit stars of that period particularly impressive in training?

— I paid more attention to the attacking players. I'll single out Kokorin. He was very different in movement and everything else.

— If you move up to the RPL, will you want to prove to Zenit that you underestimated them for nothing?

— If I'm proving something, it's primarily to myself. I have a self-sufficient motivation, not related to Zenit or my other former clubs. Therefore, if there is a specific match with Zenit, there will be motivation for Zenit. But the same applies to other rivals.