The coach of Slovan Liberec indicated at the press conference before the start of the spring part of the season that both Haris Berbič (19) and Augustin Drakpe (24) are likely to make their league debut together during the weekend after their winter transfer to northern Bohemia.
“It’s a high probability. Of course, we’ll see what happens because it’s still five days and anything can happen. However, yes, we brought in two stoppers, which is what we wanted,” revealed Kováč.
The unequivocal situation in the cadre contributes to this. Neither Ange N’Guessan (22) nor Aziz Kayondo (23) will be available due to card penalties, other stoppers are injured and Dominik Plechatý (26) completed his transfer to the second division Artis Brno.
“We didn’t expect something like this to happen, but it did. You never know in football, so we’re glad they came. I don’t want to reveal anything, but there is a high probability,” Kováč continued.
However, the coach of the North Bohemian club has full confidence in both winter reinforcements. According to him, they have adapted very well in the team and he is convinced that if he shows them for the upcoming match with Zlín, they will make full use of their chance.
“They have adapted very quickly. Both of them look very interesting, but we will see how they get used to the first games because it will be different football for them too. We have discussed it a lot with them so that they are not surprised and are prepared for what awaits them.”
“We are in anticipation, but we firmly believe that the boys will be able to do it. Now we have seen them, they are also well selected. Berbič is a very young player, but his figure and what he showed us in a short sample was very positive. We believe that if both of them start, they will be able to do it.”
For now, Kováč has reason to be happy, because the team returned from the training camp in Spain in good health. “We were coming back with 25 healthy players,” the coach of Slovan was looking forward to, who immediately knocked on the happy news for sure. Nevertheless, Plechaté’s departure may present at least a complication for the upcoming match.
“Dominik did an excellent job here, even if it’s a risk for the first game,” said Kováč, who, however, understands his decision. “I couldn’t guarantee him a full workload. So he understood that the guarantee couldn’t be here, and that’s why he decided to accept the offer.”
“We wanted him to stay here, but the offer was very unexpected. It was overall a very good deal for Dominik and for the club. We don’t want to prevent players who have a chance to have a better contract than here. We don’t want to prevent them from being able to earn money,” added the Liberec coach.
