Alexey Ponikarovsky: "We need to break open Severstal's defence"

- Did the players who come from Cherepovets give you a tour of the city?

- There has been no time. But I think that all of us have been here before, and know what there is to see and do.

- In honour of his birthday, did Yevgeni Ketov buy the team a cake?

- Yes, our tradition is to buy a cake and take it into the dressing room.

- What can we expect from Severstal today?

- They have a pretty fast, coordinated team which plays well in the attack. We need to break open their defence and spend as much time in their zone. I remember that previous match last week very well, when we were leading but allowed them to equalise. We won in the end, but the match was very tough, and today it certainly won't be easy. We need to get pumped up, go out and play.

- Have the coaches not asked you to play carefully during the opening minutes?

- We will start hard as usual pressing hard in their zone, as to let them know that it won't be easy. We are all ready.