FC Kuban coach Yuri Krasnozhan has praised the job done by his predecessor Dan Petrescu in elevating the club from Russian Premier League minnows.
Krasnozhan spoke after his team's shock 1-0 win at Lokomotiv Moscow earlier Saturday lifted the Krasnodar side to joint fifth in the table.
He took over at Kuban in the summer after former Chelsea right back Petrescu joined heavyweights Dynamo Moscow.
"The previous coaching staff did so much to raise Kuban to a new level," said Krasnozhan. "They created the kind of base where it was comfortable to come in. A disciplined team, an excellent micro-climate," he said.
Petrescu belied Kuban's modest resources to finish in the top half of the table last season, their first after promotion from the second tier, aided by an attack fronted by the league's third-top scorer Lacina Traore.
Traore joined Anzhi Makhachkala in the summer, but that has not prevented Kuban mixing it with the top teams.
Krasnozhan's charges lie above the country's last two champions Zenit St. Petersburg and Rubin Kazan in the table. Their next game is away to Zenit on October 20, after the break for World Cup qualifiers.
Petrescu, meanwhile, has overseen the worst start in Dynamo's history. They lost their first five games, but appear to be on the road to recovery after getting two straight wins.
They host league leaders Anzhi on Sunday.
