Sagiv Jehezkel faced the media on Thursday ahead or Saturday’s MD28 WINNER League match away to Maccabi Haifa. The match at Sammy Ofer will be the second encounter against Haifa in a space of 10 days as both teams faced each other in the Semi Final of the State Cup.
Maccabi will travel to Haifa on the back of Sunday’s 1-0 victory over Hapoel in the Tel Aviv derby that saw them open a three point lead from fourth place. At the same time, Maccabi remain eight points adrift of second place Beitar and 10 behind leaders Hapoel Be’ershava that face each other at the weekend.
“Our focus is first and foremost on the upcoming match, and beyond that we are not dealing with anything else” Jehzkel said. “We have an important game and we’ll come as prepared as possible to win it” he added. Following the 3-1 defeat to Hapoel Beersheva on the final day of the regular season Maccabi recorded two defeats on the bounce as Jehezkel said: “After every match we draw conclusions, even after victories. I’m happy we knew how to bounce back from that defeat, to do our things and win.”
The fact the match against Haifa is normaly billed as a top of the table clash yet this time will see fifth host third, saw Jehezkel insist: “It doesn’t affect us. That’s the current situation and our position. We try to do the best we can and focus on our own game to win.”
On his personal season and the fact he doesn’t always start, he said: “I deal with it like a mature player. I understand the situation. The coach has his decisions and I trust and respect him and the coaching staff. In every minute I get, I’ll prove that I deserve to be here. I’m here for the team and the club and I’m happy to be here. I’ll play in any role I’m needed in and try to do it in the best possible way.”
As Maccabi as well as the rest of the league now enter a highly congested fixture schedule due to the one-month long imposed break due to the war with Iran, Jehezkel said: “It is part of the situation. The coach will make the right adjustments, we’ll come into every game fully prepared and approach each one properly.
