Dynamo Kyivʼs centre-back Taras Mykhavko shared his thoughts on the team’s 5:1 away win over Rukh in the Ukrainian Premier League.
– After a tough Champions League match you were again in the starting lineup. How easy was it for you to play in Lviv?
– I can’t say it was easy but each of us is ready to go out on the pitch. The coaching staff told me I was preparing and playing, so I couldn’t say I had no energy – I’m always ready. Of course, the travel can wear you down and take away some strength. But, as I’ve said, when you play for Dynamo I would play every two days if needed. So it’s nothing serious – we recover and prepare for very important match.
– When Oleksandr Shovkovskyi said that some players would rest and you would play, were you surprised?
– Not exactly surprised. We don’t have a situation where he tells us two or three days before the game who will rest. It’s just that on match day he announces the lineup, it’s his decision, and we all support it. So for me it’s not a problem.
– You continued your scoring streak – first in European competition, now in the Ukrainian league. Is this something new for you? Are you now a defender who scores, or is it just the result of hard work in training?
– Of course I’m happy because, as you probably know, last season I had a bit of bad footballing luck. But this season, thanks God, things are going well so far. And I repeat what I’ve said in other interviews – it doesn’t matter for me whether I score or someone else does, the main thing is for the team to win.
– In the moment when you scored today, you were being marked by Rukh’s tall striker, yet you managed to get away from him. How do you remember that moment?
– During trainings we work on playing until the very end, wherever I am on the pitch. There was an awkward rebound there, and I just didn’t switch off, played to the end and managed to score.
