Three wins in only seven days brought Celje Pivovarna Lasko all the way up to SEHA - Gazprom League’s second place. In their final match of 2017 they will on Saturday (20.00 CET) host Tatran Presov in what will be a perfect chance for them to prolong the positive streak and go to the winter break in a good mood.

Slavko Goluza and his boys will on the other side surely look to put an end to a negative streak they found themselves in at the end of the year after defeats in both Skopje and Zagreb. It will be interesting to see whether we’ll by the end of the year already have a clear gap between teams which will most likely qualify for Final Four tournament and those who will be forced to settle with lower placements in League’s seventh season.

Branko Tamse, Celje Pivovarna Lasko coach:
The match against the team from Presov is of high importance for us. We are close on the table and this is going to be a real derby for us although we already did a good job in Brest and against Velenje. We expect one hard match. As we all know and remember, our encounter in Presov was both tight and tough throughout all 60 minutes and I don’t expect this match to be any different. By that, we once again won’t have much time to prepare or rest some players because we’ll be limited to only one training session reserved for tactics. However, despite of all that goal is to close the year in style. We want to win which is of course easier to say and harder to actually do but we’ll give our best to achieve our goal in front of our fans. 

Jaka Malus, Celje Pivovarna Lasko player:
Difficult match is ahead of us because, as we all know, Tatran is one of our direct opponents in F4 race. Rhythm is hard but we’re in good form with nine points from last three matches. Our injury situation is getting better and better every day and the goal is to prolong the positive streak of course. I believe our fans will enjoy the duel, I’d like to invite them to come and support us in what will be our last match this year.

Slavko Goluza, Tatran Presov coach:
Quality game against a top rival is ahead of us. They proved good form with a win in Brest. However, despite of our injury situation, tight schedule and every other problem we’re dealing with at the moment we’ll do all we can to deliver best possible performance in Celje. Hosts are of course favorites but we’re ready to fight for a good result.

Igor Chupryna, Tatran Presov goalkeeper:
I expect this to be a tough match. Celje are an excellent team full of experienced players. We want to give everything we’ve got into this one, show what we’re capable of at the moment and see what it brings us in the end.

Match will be broadcasted on Arena Sport channels, ehf TV and Sport TV (Slovenia).