Tipsport liga: Jablonec lost to Dukla. Every defeat is unfortunate, says coach Petr Rada

Every defeat is unfortunate. Especially in the first half we didn’t have enough access to the opponent, we are afraid to play one-on-one. Our biggest problem is chances. The opponent has two and scores three goals, we struggle. It makes us angry.

We need to be more responsible and not be afraid to play one-on-one. Sometimes we back off unnecessarily, especially in the first half we weren’t on time for everything. The good thing is that we changed the whole squad.

You introduced the young prospects from the B team. Do you expect more reinforcements?

We have taken four boys from the B team, I believe that Silny from Lisna has already been agreed. Čvančara left for Sparta, Doležal is going to Lubin in Poland and I don’t believe that anything could prevent his departure. I would definitely welcome some reinforcements in the attack.

You’re the only Czech cup representative that participates in the winter league, Sparta, Slavia, Plzeň and Slovácko choose a different model. Does it suit you?

We have three games against quality opponents that fit into our preparation programme. We are playing on artificial turf, it is hard to play on natural grass these days, nobody wants to ruin it. Depending on the weather, it might be possible somewhere, but it’s hard in the north. The artificial grass at Xaverova is good, it’s not optimal, but it’s fine in Czech conditions.

As I said, every defeat is regrettable. Moreover, it was unnecessary, we had enough chances and could have at least equalized. This was already shown in the autumn part, when we got cheap goals and we worked hard for each one.

We don’t deal with money for results in the tournament, I don’t even know how much anyone can get. We signed up to play in the tournament. In the European Cup, in the Conference League, we could have earned a lot more. Let the players play, focus on the game and not on the money.

Has the burden of the beginning of the winter training affected the team?

It is and will be until the training camp in Spain, if we go there at all. We can see what the coronavirus situation is at the moment. To leave and go into quarantine and not be able to train would be pointless. But it’s problematic for everyone, a lot of teams have already cancelled training camps abroad. We’re ready, if we don’t go, we’ll continue to prepare at home.

Let them go! I don’t know what will happen to me in a month. Let alone a year from now. I’m sure there’s some motivation, but the first motivation is to win every game.