Pavlov's dogged Vorskla thrive in Ukraine

Coach Mykola Pavlov has upset the established order in Ukraine by guiding modest FC Vorskla Poltava into contention for a top-three finish, but the 54-year-old remains unimpressed by his burgeoning reputation.

'Simple secret'
This time last season, the green-and-whites were battling for Premier League survival. Twelve months on, they are dreaming of their best league placing since finishing third in 1996/97, with coach Pavlov being feted as a miracle worker. "The secret of our success secret is simple," insisted Pavlov, whose fourth-placed side are ahead of two of the country's greatest clubs, FC Shakhtar Donetsk and FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk. "I trust my boys and they have faith in themselves. That gets us results."

Deserved
Although they lie ten points behind leaders FC Dynamo Kyiv, Vorskla are just four points behind third-placed FC Metalist Kharkiv with two games left before the winter break, and Pavlov believes his side fully deserve their lofty position. "Look at the teams above us. They've all finished in the top three recently. Regardless of whichever statistics you look at, we clearly deserve to be fourth or fifth in the standings." That represents a refreshing change for fans in Poltava, who have had little to celebrate in the last decade, but suddenly find themselves watching a side boasting three Ukrainian internationals with Oleh Krasnoperov joining team-mates Grigoriy Yarmash and Serhiy Kravchenko in the squad for this week's friendly with Norway.

Defensive strength
The club's impressive form, which has also seen them through to the Ukrainian Cup semi-finals, has been founded on a solid defence which has kept a clean sheet in eleven of their 15 games to date, including seven 1-0 wins, one of which came against reigning champions Shakhtar. Hardly surprisingly, president Oleh Babayev is starting to dream of European competition come the 2009/10 season. However, Pavlov knows continental competition would represent a major step up for his squad. "Do you really think I don't want to play in Europe?" said the former Dnipro and FC Illychivets Mariupil boss. "Of course I do. I just know what me and my team would be up against."

'A fantastic atmoshpere'
With Kravchenko due to join Dynamo during the winter break and Albanian internationals Debatik Curri and Armend Dallku tipped to move to Turkey or Russia, Pavlov may have to perform another conjuring trick if Vorskla are to remain buoyant come the spring. "We have very good youngsters and with some trust and confidence they can create many pleasant surprises," he said. "And do not forget that we have already become used to winning and our board and players would simply not settle for less. That is why it is easy to work here and everybody does that so cheerfully. There is a fantastic atmosphere here at the moment."