CSKA 1948 head coach Ivan Ivanov praised his players for their brave play in the dramatic loss to Ludogorets with 2:3 in the round of 16 of the Bulgarian Cup, BTA reported.
"The class and depth in the Ludogorets squad gives the team a high level, which meets average European standards.
I want to praise my players for not being afraid. The idea was to outplay each other, to press. After the 60th minute we are physically exhausted and we start to lag behind. Players in Bulgaria are not used to playing at high intensity, with short sprint work.
It is normal to regret the loss, but we have to be realistic. This loss will hurt in the next few days, but we have to take the positives and let the players understand that they can outplay any opponent in Bulgaria", commented Ivan Ivanov.
He revealed that he plans to impose young players from the team's double in the new year.
"There are players with expiring contracts, their motivation is different, we need to change the energy in the team, bring in fresh blood from the second team and impose the Bulgarian players, whom we can give a chance to perform. We need a player like Chochev, who knows how to get into the penalty area, has a goal-scoring instinct and although he is a midfielder, he has scored a lot of goals in recent years. "We need people to finish the attacks," Ivan Ivanov added.