Guilt-edged chance for Lokomotiv

Malkhaz Asatiani said a "sense of guilt" will inspire FC Lokomotiv Moskva in the UEFA Cup after a dire league season ended in the dismissal of coach Anatoly Byshovets.

Making amends
A seventh-placed finish in the Russian Premier-Liga represented a miserable return for the capital side, and cost Byshovets his job on 12 November. As they host FC København in their penultimate Group B game, having drawn their opening two fixtures, Lokomotiv are determined to make amends. The 26-year-old Georgia defender Asatiani said: "There is no doubt that there is a sense of guilt towards the fans because we only finished seventh. They trusted in us and we let them down. Now we will try to make up for it in the UEFA Cup."

Biggest critic
Lokomotiv captain Diniyar Bilyaletdinov will have more reason than most to want a win tonight as his father, long-term Railway Boys reserve coach Rinat Bilyaletdinov, has been put in temporary charge of the first team while they seek a permanent appointment. "I have been playing football since I was four and all that time I was under the supervision of my dad, who paid me a lot of attention," he said. "I am his main target of criticism. If something happens, he will happily bench me - it happened a lot in the youth teams."

No expectations
Rinat Bilyaletdinov, meanwhile, will be reunited with a number of other senior team stars whose careers he helped launch in the reserve ranks. Even if he manages to lead Lokomotiv into the knockout phase of the tournament, the coach is rated very unlikely to be offered the job permanently, but he insists that is not a problem. "This is not my decision and I am not offended by this situation," he said. "For me, the most important thing is to help Lokomotiv to secure European football in the spring."

Difficult task
It will not be an easy task, and they badly need a win against København despite Dmitri Sychev being doubtful with injury and facing a boggy surface in Moscow. "København have tall players who are good in the air. The pitch also leaves much to be desired and this always adds to our nerves but the conditions are the same for everyone and I expect the match to be tense and difficult," added Asatiani, summing up his side's season in three words.