Partizan is away to Crvena Zvezda on Saturday (6pm CET kick-off) for a Mozzart Bet Serbian Super Liga play-off round 1.
H2H (last six)
CZ 1, Partizan 1, Drawn 4. Gd: 5-5.
TEAM NEWS
Saldanha (thigh) remains a doubt as well as keeper Jovanovic who picked up a knee injury last weekend. Boss Duljaj is suspended after receiving forth caution of the season.
Partizan boss Igor Duljaj ahead of 173rd edition of Eternal Belgrade derby:
-It`s on us to get ready for the derby as much as possible, to do our best. We want to continue our derby streak and remain undefeated against our bitter rivals. It won`t be easy as they are a high quality team but we`ll try to prepare for it and achieve a win.
Their boss Milojevic knows Partizan all too well. I don`t expect any surprises. We`ll do everything possible to play a quality game. This one will be different compared to previous derby and we must not forget we were a player down for the last 20 to 25 minutes back then. I would love to see lots of goals and lots of fans on the stands, derby with its long tradition deserves it.
Me not being by the dugout, it`s obviously not a pleasant situation. I don`t know if it ever happened for a derby game but it`s my fault for getting all these deserved cautions.
I don`t know where I`ll be on the ground exactly. We are training and my assistants will get the instructions, we might have a phone communication during the half-time break. There will be no wisdom or much philosophy involved, we`ll see what the logic is depending on the result standing. I`m truly sorry that I won`t be by the dugout for my team.
Partizan skipper Svetozar Markovic ahead of the derby game:
-We need to get ready, get focused and do our best tomorrow. Also, we want to remain undefeated in a derby games this season.
As for the set-pieces, we talked a lot about after the last derby game. We were a player short for the last 20 minutes or so and we were behind the ball too much, resulting in too many corner-kicks for our rival. I think it will be a different encounter tomorrow.
Motivation ahead of a derby game is always there, a great desire to play well and win. I`m sure hosts will be hugely motivated as they didn`t win us this season but both teams will have a great desire to win.
