Melikyan ahead of Montenegro match: We already have 14 absentees, we will change the formation and try something new

Ahead of the fourth-round UEFA Nations League match between Montenegro and Armenia, Armenia head coach Yeghishe Melikyan and national team midfielder Ugochukwu Iwu held a press conference in Podgorica.

After three rounds, Montenegro lead Group C2 with a perfect nine points, while Armenia are third with three points.

Iwu: We will do everything to win

Ugochukwu Iwu said Armenia expect a difficult match but will fight for all three points.

— What do you expect from the match?

— It will be a difficult game. We will do everything we can to win. The match in Yerevan was difficult, but things may turn out differently here.

Melikyan: We already have 14 absentees

Yeghishe Melikyan once again pointed to the large number of unavailable players and stressed that the congested schedule has created an additional problem.

— You previously said the team had 13–14 absentees. What do you expect from this match and how important is it?

— Yes, we already have 14 absentees. The main problem is that this is already our fourth match, and for that you need a lot of resources, which we do not have. In any case, we have players who will go onto the pitch and fight for victory. We have a plan for how to play against Montenegro. They are a good team and we may have problems, but we will try to show our best football.

The Armenia head coach also spoke about the home advantage for Montenegro. All tickets for the match in Podgorica have been sold.

— How much can the support of the Montenegro fans influence the game?

— In any case, this is an away match for us. At home we always feel better because our supporters help us. But we have to be ready for the pressure from the stands. We have a very young team now, so it will be difficult. In any case, I believe in the team.

Melikyan also revealed that the coaching staff are preparing significant changes compared with the previous matches.

— We have made a lot of changes for this game. We will change the formation and try something new. We will see during the match how well it works. We need to look for ways to create problems for our opponents, Melikyan said.

Armenia are dealing with a large number of personnel problems ahead of the match against Montenegro. Due to injuries, Henry Avagyan, Styopa Mkrtchyan, Artem Bandikyan, Kamo Hovhannisyan, Sergey Muradyan, Julio Bueno, Edgar Grigoryan, Hovhannes Harutyunyan, Vahan Bichakhchyan, David Davidyan, Grant-Leon Ranos, Finn Geragusyan and Ognjen Čančarević are unavailable.

Artur Garibyan's availability remains in doubt. In addition, Edgar Sevikyan will miss the match through suspension.