Carrera warns Spartak against complacency

MOSCOW: Spartak Moscow boss Massimo Carrera has warned his Russian pacesetters against complacency as they target their first domestic title since 2001.

The nine-time former champions lead the table, five points ahead of Zenit St Petersburg.

Reigning champions CSKA Moscow are third, three points further back.

"We need to show our top football to achieve our best possible result this season," the Italian told Spartak's official site.

"We must win (the title) but a five-point lead isn't enough for us to feel comfortable. The end of the championship will show what level our team can really achieve. We should play at our top not to have the slightest reason for regret at the season's end."

Spartak, held 2-2 at Krasnodar in their first match after the winter break, have a fair chance of adding all three points to their balance on Sunday, when they take on struggling Anzhi Makhachkala.

Anzhi have lost both their official matches after the winter break - in the national cup and the Premier League.

Zenit, who also dropped points in their first league match after the long winter break in a goalless draw with CSKA, will try to bag maximum points at Amkar Perm.

The Saint Petersburg team beat Amkar 3-0 in August but their coach Mircea Lucescu has warned his men against taking their next opponents lightly.

"We're on the hunt for the title and a place in the Champions League," he said. "But I don't expect it will be easy."

"Amkar also have objectives of their own. They suffered a disappointing defeat last week. But in front of their home crowd they will likely want to take revenge for the defeat in St Petersburg.

"We need to prepare for a serious fight."

Defending champions CSKA meanwhile look clear favourites on paper ahead of Saturday's meeting with bottom-placed Tomsk.

But the Red Army side will be without Swedish midfielder Pontus Wernbloom, who was sent off against Zenit after picking up two yellow cards.

CSKA head coach Viktor Gancharenko said that his men will need to keep themselves focused to avoid any unexpected dropped points in the match with minnows Tomsk.

"We looked good against Zenit and dominated the game before we were reduced to 10 men," Gancharenko said. "But we failed to find the net and win.

"The upcoming match is a good chance to record our first win after the season's resumption. But we need to keep fully focused so we don't waste our chances again." - AFP