Dynamo Kyiv defender Taras Mykhavko, who made his first team debut in the Ukrainian Premier League preliminary round game against Metalist 1925 Kharkiv (4-2), shared his impressions of his debut.
- Taras, it's been a few days since the opening match of the year and your debut, and the emotions have subsided. How do you feel now?
- I feel good. We are preparing for the next game against Chornomorets.
- How was the evening after your debut game for Dynamo?
- My friends and family congratulated me on my debut. I didn't do anything special that evening, I spent time recovering and resting at the training base. I just had a little walk in the city centre with the teammates. And then I went back to the base.
- Who was the first to congratulate you on your debut, apart from your teammates and coaches?
- My brothers congratulated me, as well as many friends with whom I played back in Lviv. Were there any relatives in the stands? No, only my friends from the U-19 team supported me.
- Do you realise that this is just the beginning, and the bar must now rise to gain a foothold in the first team?
- Of course, I need to work hard and prove at every training session that I am worthy of playing in the main team.
- Have you already analysed the game with Kharkiv?
- Yes, we have already analysed the game with Metalist 1925. We did it on the two days that have passed. And now, in these two days before the next match, we are analysing the game against Chornomorets.
- What mistakes did the coaches point out in the previous match?
- There were some mistakes, but it's okay, we'll correct them and try not to make them in the next matches.
- It is extremely important for a pair of central defenders to feel each other on the fly. What level is your interaction with your team-mates at now?
- I think our mutual understanding is already at a fairly high level. We continue to work, improve our interaction, and give each other suggestions. I hope that in the next matches we will not make the same mistakes as in the previous one.
- Is the team already implementing what it has been working on at the training camp?
- Yes, of course. What we worked on in the training camp is transferred to the football field during matches. We are improving these developments, following the instructions of the coaching staff.
- The next game is against Chornomorets. You have already met Odesa in the UPL, what do you expect from this opponent?
- They are a good team. However, the Chornomorets I played against a year ago and the Chornomorets now are slightly different teams. And the tasks are different. But we have prepared well for the game, so everything should be fine.
- Perhaps you watched the first-round match when Dynamo played Chornomorets in Odesa?
- No, that day there was a match between the youth teams at the same time. But I watched the review.
- Does the team have a certain revengeful mood for that defeat?
- Of course, there is. The guys want to prove that that defeat was unfair, accidental, to play this match at a higher level and win.