Danijel Jovanović: from cast to goal machine in just five games

Iskra players are the absolute hit of the second part of the Meridianbet 2nd Montenegrin Football League championship.

From a team whose only goal at half-season was not to fear the play-offs for survival, of course in addition to the traditional one - to affirm as many small players as possible - the composition Milan Radulović has turned into a "already seen" passenger in the elite barrage in just six rounds!

The team from Danilovgrad has won 16 out of a possible 18 points in the last six games. In that series, they have given up five goals to the current leader Grbalj (5:1), and with five wins, their only draw was against the current champion, Otrant-Olimpik in Ulcinj (2:2).

That Iskra is playing better in the second half of the season because they didn't have an injured 18-year-old this fall Danijela Jovanović - is probably too strong a statement, because in recent years, the people of Danilovgrad have almost traditionally launched teenagers into orbit who become noticeable even in younger representative categories, even at the European Championship (example: as many as four Iskra players participated in the U19 European Championship last year).

However, the fact that Radulović's team's great run coincided with the young winger's goal streak - there's no escaping that statement.

Jovanović, who spent most of the first half of the season with a cast on his arm, scored five goals in the aforementioned six games: almost out of nowhere, he emerged as one of Iskra's most important attacking assets.

- Due to a broken hand and complications with recovery, and the surgery I had to undergo, I missed almost the entire fall half-season. I only returned at the end, played four or five matches, I was really craving football, and when I needed to get into the right rhythm, the break came - says Jovanović.

It took two spring cycles for both him and Iskra to warm up. And then - an explosion.

- I expected to come back better, but I didn't expect a series like this. What would I attribute it to? Work, effort, training, the desire to come back stronger after the injury.

Although he attended several training camps, he did not make his debut for any of the younger national teams. That doesn't necessarily mean anything either - some players "arrive" later.

- I believe I will make up for all that - in the youth and senior teams. That is, of course, a dream for now, not only for me but for every player.

What is the secret of Iskra in the second part?

- I think what sets us apart is the team atmosphere. It gets us through even when things don't go our way on the field, and that happens. The support of the coach, the support of the management, it's all one whole that works.

The goals are - the highest possible.

- We have five points more than Kom, who are in 4th place, but we have nine hellish rounds ahead of us. Our common goal is the First League. We have no pressure, but we are fighting, and it is natural that we have ambition. Iskra has a young team, one of the youngest in the league, with a few experienced players who mean a lot.

Jovanović has been with Iskra his entire career - from the youth categories to the first team.

- I am very pleased. Iskra is the second oldest club in Montenegro, right after Lovćen, it deserves a first league team and this current situation is not realistic.

Currently, all his plans are related to his home club:

- I want to help the team as much as I can until the end of the season, to try to get back to the First League. And then I want to take a step forward in my career - concludes Danijel Jovanović.