PPD Zagreb will in their last match in 2017 on Saturday (18.00 CET) in Varazdin Arena host Serbian champions Vojvodina. Goal is clear for Croatian champs - they’ll look to prolong good series started with coach Saracevic’ arrival, win three new points and wait for the holidays in a good mood. Serbian champions are on the other side coming to Varazdin in a good atmosphere after a win against NEXE at home in the last round which finally put an end to a bad series they found themselves in as their fans had to wait for almost three months to see their players celebrate a SEHA - Gazprom League win.

It doesn’t seem like Vojvodina can really endanger Zagreb away from home. However, ‘Lions’ are dealing with serious roster problems after Zarko Markovic’ contract expired about a week ago and Mario Vuglac suffered an injury which will keep him off the court for a while. Damir Bicanic is also questionable after not being able to return for the second half of the match against Tatran Presov due to neck problems. Will that be enough for coach Kukic and his players to make what would probably be the biggest surprise of the season and stun Zagreb on road or will ‘Lions’ cruise past Serbian champions?

Zlatko Saracevic, PPD Zagreb coach:
Match against Vojvodina will be our last this year but we’re dealing with a lot of problems at the moment. Team’s health status is far from ideal - at the moment we know Vuglac will not be ready for the match but I hope we’ll manage to get Bicanic ready after neck problems he experienced during the match against Presov. Of course, goal will remain the same - we want to win, close the year in the right way so that those who got called up to the national team can proceed with preparations for EURO and those who didn’t can rest a bit and then start preparing for the second part of the season of course.

Josip Bozic-Pavletic, PPD Zagreb player:
Last game. Vojvodina is surely not a bad team, they proved it beating NEXE. Most important thing in this one will be that we take the match seriously, open it good and work hard from the first minute. We must be ready to give our 100% no matter who stands on the other side of the court. I believe we won’t experience any bigger problems and that we’ll wait for holidays in a good mood.

Dragan Kukic, Vojvodina coach:
We’re finally travelling for an away match with smiles on our faces and the reason is win from the last round. We finally managed to play good for more than 40 minutes. However, we’re still far from ideal form and PPD Zagreb are clear favorites in this one. We’ve got nothing to lose though so we’re ready.

Strahinja Stankovic, Vojvodina player:
Everything seems to be easier after the win against NEXE in the previous round. I’m talking about mental preparation of course. Despite of that, we’re aware we did not accomplish anything bigger, do anything significant. We still need to put in a lot more work in order to be able to play competitive matches against other SEHA Gazprom League participants. We’ll try to do it against Zagreb. Good thing is we won’t have any pressure on our shoulders so that should also make it easier for us.

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