Football in Scotland’s Muzek to my ears

Mateo’s relishing Saints spell after switch from Kazakhstan

MATEO MUZEK is hoping to hit the high notes at St Mirren as he’d love to settle down in Scotland.

The Austrian-born defender is relishing the Saints switch after his spell in Kazakhstan with Shakhter Karagandy.

Left-back Muzek is out to impress in his bid to extend a six-month deal in Paisley and insists Scottish football is a cut above the Kazakhs.

The 23-year-old, who was raised in Croatia and has also played in Slovenia and Azerbaijan, said: “This is another level – the infrastructure is brilliant.

“The stadiums are full, the football is better, the players are better, everything is better.

“I’m enjoying the experience. At first I was a bit sceptical but now it is great here. It is a good pressure to have because you want to prove yourself. If you do well then you could stay here or other clubs might be watching.

“We will see what the summer brings. I would love to stay here. In Croatia they follow football but do not go to games the same.

“At Hearts there were 18,000 people there, that is completely different to what I had in Croatia. “It is another experience and another league. The football is a lot more physical and you need to run and think a lot faster. “It will make me a better footballer by the end of the six months. This suits my style of football.” Scottish sides know plenty about Kazakh football with Celtic and Aberdeen squaring up to their teams in Europe and Scotland heading to the outer reaches of Europe this month for Euro 2020 qualifiers.

Muzek enjoyed his one-year spell in Karagandy but insists he feels more at home in Scotland.

The defender said: “It is different but there are a lot of quality players in Kazakhstan. Andrey Arshavin was there last year with Kairat who are a very good club. There is also Astana and three or four very good clubs.

“The foreign players there are the best from Eastern Europe while the rest are made up of Kazakhs.

“The standard of those players is not so high but there are still 10 or 15 good players.

“Kazakhstan is not how you imagine it. It is bad but if you have a good salary there then it is good. If you are in the centre then everything is clean and new. You see a lot of poor people, it is a poor country, but there are a few cities that are good.

“Here, in Glasgow, it is a very beautiful city and it is better.”

Muzek admits he’s had to make a quick impact with Saints in the thick of a relegation scrap.

Back-to-back draws with Aberdeen and Hearts have boosted morale and the defender wants to kick on against Livington today.

Muzek said: “We have picked up points against teams that want to play in Europe. But against the sides near the bottom you have to win.

“When I came here there was a lot of new players coming in. Now we speak a lot more and we are a very good group.”