This wasn't an easy match, you have opponents that don't suit you, we lost against Vukovar in the autumn, now the most important thing was to win and we succeeded in that, highlighted Dinamo's coach Mario Kovačević after his team defeated Vukovar 1991 in Osijek at Gradski vrt 4-1.

– Look, even when you're not at your best you still score four goals so you have to be satisfied. I want to congratulate the players on the victory. True, there were many mistakes, we took a 2-0 lead, and then we played differently, I won't say we relaxed, but Vukovar had good chances, they managed to reduce our lead... Later we stabilized, scored the third goal and then calmly brought the match to an end.

Dinamo are in fantastic form both in terms of results and performance. How difficult is it to prepare the team before matches like this where many in the public have already 'written down' a Dinamo victory in advance?

– We're aware of such situations, they 'proclaim' us champions, but we still have seven rounds ahead of us, many points in play. We haven't mathematically secured the title yet. Every match is difficult, and if you're not at your best, you can have problems. Vukovar defended well, but we allowed them too much. Still, there were players in good form, especially captain Josip Mišić and Dion Drena Beljo who scored a hat-trick.

Next comes the match against Rijeka.

– We're waiting for the derby, we're going for the victory. Some players who were absent due to injuries will return to us, like Dominik Livaković for example. We'll see what condition Bruno Goda is in, he took a blow to the nose. Our fans will surely fill the stadium, I want us to be at our best and celebrate together at the end – added coach Kovačević.

Dion Drena Beljo speaks similarly, the author of another hat-trick, his third in the last four league matches.

– I'm extremely happy about the hat-trick, and the most important thing is that the three points are there, now we're a step closer to the title. That's all we're thinking about. In this match we weren't at our best, we're aware of that, we're not looking for excuses, but this is our third appearance in a short period. We move on. Although we weren't at the level we wanted, we scored four goals which is encouraging.

Beljo scored three of those four, and that fourth was also his work in a way because his pressure provoked an own goal from the home team.

– I'm extremely motivated, I have excellent teammates and I want to praise them. Without them there wouldn't be so many chances nor would I have scored so many goals. I'm happy about that and I hope we'll continue like this.

He's especially pleased that he scored a hat-trick in his Slavonia. He grew up in Vinkovci and spent a significant part of his career in Osijek.

– I'm pleased, yes. I played a lot of matches here, scored goals... It's a special feeling to play here, at this stadium – added Beljo.