Zenit won´t hold back, says Hubocan

Tomas Hubocan insists Zenit St Petersburg will take the game to Porto in their Champions League qualification decider in Portugal on Tuesday.

Zenit go into the game second in Group G, one point clear of their third-placed hosts. A draw would be enough to secure the Russians a berth in the last 16, but defender Hubocan insists that they will be gunning for victory given that they only trail pool leaders APOEL by one point.

“We know the situation in the group but it’s not our style to hold out for a goalless draw,” Hubocan said.

“We want to play attractive, attacking football on Tuesday, which fans in Russia are used to seeing. And we need the result, so we’ll be playing to win.”

However, Hubocan is not taking the challenge of Porto lightly, having been impressed by their play when the two sides met on matchday two.

Zenit defeated the Portuguese outfit 3-1 back in September, but Porto’s cause had not been aided by the dismissal of Jorge Fucile just before the break.

“Although they lost they were good opponents – a team of high quality who like to attack,” Hubocan said.

“They are a strong unit with excellent individuals who we need to be very wary of.”

“Porto will definitely burst forward in numbers, so the main thing for us is not to concede early on.”

“We’ll try to exploit our chances later on when spaces appear that present counterattacking opportunities.”

“Everyone at Zenit recognises the importance of this game. It’s not only our last match of the year, it’s also the most crucial.”

Porto, though, go into the game well rested after having the weekend off and defender Maicon is in a bullish frame of mind ahead of the visit of Zenit.

“We will show our dynamism and commitment,” Maicon said. “When we get on that pitch we’ll only be thinking about one thing: getting the win.”

“We’ll do our best for the fans. Zenit are a great side but we expect Porto to be stronger and we’ll be going all out for the win.”