The League of Nations match between the Armenia and Ukraine national teams will take place on September 24 in Yerevan at the Republican Stadium named after Vazgen Sargsyan (kickoff at 16.00 Kyiv time). The day before the game, the head coach of the blue-and-yellow team Oleksandr Petrakov spoke at a press conference.

— In your last match, you lost to Scotland. Did not having Zinchenko affect your team's performance?

— Zinchenko is the leader of the Ukrainian national team, we missed him, but this is football life. He called me and told about his injury, he was disappointed that he couldn't help. Right now, we don't have five key players. This is a lot for us, but other footballers will get their chance.

— What didn't work out in the match against Scotland?

— I've already said that we don't have many players who can execute tasks. It's very difficult for us to play when three or four footballers are missing. The guys who came on were trying their best, but they're not yet ready to play at this level. We faced a team where everyone plays in the Premier League. I can't say that we didn't get lucky — this time our opponent outplayed us. After the June match with Scotland, Steve Clarke said the same about us, and now I'll say that they lost to us. The Scots outwanted us. Many of the boys were not ready. They were told about it, prepared for it. However, this is the League of Nations. Everyone has the right to make mistakes. This is football, this is sport.

— How do you assess your chances in the match against Armenia?

— I've watched many matches of the Armenian national team — they have a good coach, an experienced Spaniard. The opponent will play at home. You know that we can't currently play at home — we always play away. So I see our chances in tomorrow's match as 50-50.

— What is the current squad situation? Is Mykhalenko ready to play?

— We currently have 24 players — three goalkeepers, 21 field players. Sarapio arrived, Mykhalenko is healthy. Everything is good, everyone is healthy.

— Why did you recall Sarapio?

— We have eight yellow cards. The next card — and the player will miss a match against Scotland. The game with Armenia will be tense, we need points as does our opponent. A coach must think ahead.

— Is there a plan for a national team training camp in November?

— That's not up to me, but the UAF leadership. In August, I went around clubs asking them to allow us to hold two matches in November. They initially agreed, but then denied it. So there won't be a training camp in November. The next one will take place already in March of next year.