A league derby on Saturday, followed by a tough test in the Europa League... Dinamo's players will jump straight into a demanding match schedule after a three-week league break: following Saturday's away fixture at Poljud, they face a new challenge on Thursday when they host Belgian side Anderlecht at Maksimir. However, first on the agenda in this entire 'schedule' is the 9th round SuperSport HNL match against Hajduk in Split on Saturday at 3 PM.

– This is the first time we've had such a long league break within a half-season, even three weeks, almost like mini preparations. We'll see how we react. I believe we used it well. After all, we needed this pause because of players who joined us later, they worked well, we refreshed some... It's important that all the lads returned healthy from international duty. We're ready. Unfortunately, our captain Josip Mišić will be absent due to a red card suspension. Luka Stojković has been training, we'll see how ready he'll be. He's travelling with us – highlighted coach Mario Kovačević.

Maksimir striker Dion Drena Beljo returns after his debut goal for the national team.

– He's ready and can hardly wait for the match. He's been in form since the start of the season, I'm pleased he scored for the national team too. We expect the most from him and believe he'll continue scoring goals.

Dinamo faces two demanding matches five days apart.

– The next one is always the most important to me, and in this case that's the match against Hajduk. I'm not thinking about Anderlecht at all.

Hajduk has started the season well, the Split side is currently in second place on the table with the same points tally as league leaders Dinamo. The Blues have a game in hand.

– They've started the season well, qualifying for the Conference League has lifted them further. They played well in the league except for this last match against Rijeka. But even then, until Rijeka's first goal, it was an even match, Hajduk perhaps even had more chances to score. Rijeka is quality and deserved to win. As I said, Hajduk plays particularly well at home. They've organized well, new players have fitted well into the system. We respect Hajduk, but we believe in our team and I hope we'll continue our winning streak at Poljud.

Dinamo will play without suspended captain Mišić.

– It's hard to replace anyone, especially our captain. Whenever he's been absent we've had problems, but we have solutions. I believe in Kirill Kravtsov too. And it's time we won a match without Mišić. So, without him, but – for him.

What did you work on most during this break, what did you identify as Dinamo's biggest shortcomings in this part of the season?

– We started the season very well, were good both in Europe and domestically, we were winning... However, there was a small drop after we were knocked out by Viking in the Champions League play-off. Some players lost form, we expected more contribution in wide positions, everyone in defense dropped a bit... Besides that, it took time to integrate players who joined us later. For instance, neither Luka Ivanušec nor Iker Almena nor Dani Rodriguez trained much with the team... We had to go through some preparations with them and that's why this break was welcome.

How ready is Rodriguez at this moment?

– It's hard for me to say now for one match. He could play the full 90 minutes now, but won't be able to play continuously right away. We must be careful because he was out of action for eight months. We'll see.

In this busy schedule, there will naturally be plenty of rotations within the team.

– We have quality players and I'm pleased we have matches every three-four days because I want to give everyone a chance. We'll need everyone.

Who else will be out of the squad for the match in Split?

– Fran Topić won't travel, he only joined us on Friday – added coach Kovačević.