The Maksimir draw against Rijeka ended Dinamo's winning streak that had lasted a full 10 matches in the HNL and Cup. However, it still extended another impressive series: coach Mario Kovačević's team has now gone 20 matches unbeaten in domestic competitions. The Blues last lost at the beginning of November when Istra 1961 defeated them 2-1 in Pula. This Wednesday, four days after the draw against Rijeka, the Maksimir footballers will travel to Pula for the 31st round of the SuperSport HNL. The match will kick off at 8:15 PM.

– Matches come quickly, but our idea is always the same – to play well and, of course, to win. We know it won't be easy, Istra is a quality team, they're having a good season. In the autumn part of the competition they were even in third place, after that came a small crisis and a coaching change. It will be a bit harder for us to prepare for the match because a new coach always brings new ideas. But we look at ourselves the most, if we're at our best, then we can dominate and beat anyone – coach Kovačević emphasized.

The Blues have beaten Istra twice this season at Maksimir, 3-0 and 4-0, but in Pula the home team celebrated.

– That result from Pula is certainly additional motivation for us, we want to return the favor. Istra has a good team, they have experienced players like Smail Prevljak, Stjepan Lončar, Josip Radošević, and they also have many young players. We take them seriously, but the most important thing is that we impose our game from the first minute.

What's the squad situation?

– Scott McKenna and Gabriel Vidović were injured in the match against Rijeka and are not ready yet, so they won't travel. But the good news is that it's nothing serious. I believe they will be in contention for Sunday's match. Everyone else is ready, they've trained well...

Regardless of the draw against Rijeka, it's clear that Dinamo is maintaining good form.

– We've been in good form for a very long time, but lately I haven't been happy with some things. We've conceded too many goals in the last three matches. Alright, we're here to correct that, to improve... If we fix that part, and we must, it will be easier to get victories – coach Kovačević concluded.