Ivaylo Petev: The team is in a good psychological state

Ludogorets coach Ivaylo Petev wants his team to think only about the match with Astana and not about the possible clashes with Ajax from the Europa League playoffs. The specialist admitted this at the press conference before the match in Kazakhstan.

"I don't think about Ajax at all, every next match is the most important. The whole focus should now be on Astana," Petev said. "The artificial pitch definitely gives Astana an advantage. However, I hope the pavement won't be a problem for us. All the players are healthy. Only Son will miss the match, who was punished because of the red card in the previous game," Petev continued.

"The team is in a good psychological state before the game. Kiril Despodov was not feeling well after the missed penalty against Olimpija Ljubljana, but he is fine now," said the former coach of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Kazakh media asked Ivaylo Petev if he had spoken with Stanimir Stoilov, who is the most successful coach in the history of local football and of Astana in particular. "No, I haven't spoken to him about this match."

Finally, Petev was asked why Bulgarian football does not produce great footballers such as Hristo Stoichkov and Dimitar Berbatov. "There is a crisis in Bulgarian football, but I hope that this trend will change and that there will soon be great Bulgarian players again", was the laconic comment of the former national coach.