ACL MD4 – Group A: Lokomotiv vs. Sepahan [Preview]

AFC – TASHKENT, Lokomotiv coach Andrey Miklyaev will still be without injured defender Nemanja Janicic for Wednesday’s meeting with Iran’s Sepahan in Group A of the AFC Champions League, but the 48-year-old is hopeful Islom Tukhtakhujaev will have recovered after picking up a knock while on international duty.

Tukhtakhujaev suffered a leg injury during Uzbekistan’s win over the Philippines in last month’s joint qualifiers for the 2018 FIFA World Cup and 2019 AFC Asian Cup and missed the win over Bahrain.

“Tomorrow’s match will affect the group standing. If we win, we will take a big step towards the next stage,” said coach Miklyaev.

“All players should be ready for the game except Nemanja Janicic, who is injured and cannot play. Tukhtakhujaev trained with team yesterday and I hope he will help us tomorrow.”

Lokomotiv boosted their qualification hopes having recorded a 2-0 win in Iran last month to move up to second place in Group A, two points clear of Sepahan, and extended their winning run in all competitions to five games after maintaining their 100% record in the new Uzbek league season with a 4-0 defeat of Neftchi on Friday.

But Miklyaev is taking nothing for granted when the Uzbeks return to continental action at the Lokomotiv Stadium on Wednesday.

“We scored an early goal in Isfahan and played easy, but this football and anything may happen tomorrow.”

Last month’s home defeat was Sepahan’s second of the campaign, although Igor Stimac’s side shared a 2-2 draw with Malavan in the Persian Gulf Pro League last week before making the trip to Tashkent.

“We came to Tashkent for the victory. I hope both teams will show their best performance tomorrow,” said Sepahan coach Stimac.

“We will give our all for three points. It won’t be easy, but we have prepared well for the match and we believe in our abilities soI am sure that we can win this match.

“We made several mistakes in the first game. Lokomotiv played on the counterattack and they made the most of the chances they created.
“We are building a new team with young players and this is why we haven’t achieved such good results. But we will be strong in five years.

“We will try to create chances. I can’t say how we play, but we will give our bests to win the match.”