Slavisa Jokanovic: We woke up too late

— In general, Akhmat played a more solid game. In the first 45 minutes they were faster and looked better in tackles. In the second half we tried to make a U-turn and created goalscoring chances, but it wasn't enough to pick up points today. We woke up too late. We have a new team with many young players, so we need to keep working hard and improve our play.

— What was the reason for the team's tame play in the first half?

— We expected Akhmat players to press us at the beginning of the match. They were stronger and won a lot of rebounds. Although the opponent did not create many dangerous chances, they scored from the set-piece and doubled the lead just before the break. In the second half, we tried to interplay, created threat at the opponent's goal, but one goal was not enough to come from behind.

— Whose idea was it to fly to Grozny few hours before the kick-off?

— We thought it would be the best solution for us.

— Akhmat had certain problems with the center of defense, where they have injured players. Did you keep it in mind, fielding Fedor Smolov and Vyacheslav Grulev from the first minutes?

— We always keep track of the opponent's line-up and the list of injured footballers. But we did not focus on it when choosing the players of the attacking group.