CSKA Moscow president Evegny Giner denied the club is in crisis Thursday, despite recording only one win since November and dropping out of the title race.
The team’s 1-0 derby defeat to Dynamo Moscow on Saturday was their sixth game without a win and third without scoring.
CSKA are now fourth in the Russian Premier League, two points behind capital city rivals Spartak, who hold the final Champions League qualification spot, and some fans have called for coach Leonid Slutsky to resign.
"Whenever a team has a difficult period, the media always write that it’s in crisis," Giner said. “I don’t like that term at all.”
The run of poor form is the result of injuries to key players such as first choice goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev, Giner said.
“The situation with injuries actually hasn’t been easy for us this season,” he said.
“Akinfeev was out, for example. In our case, that’s really half the team. Imagine if Xavi and Messi both weren’t able to play for Barcelona at the same time. We’d see a completely different team, a different style.”
CSKA had been damaged when striker Vagner Love left the club in January, he said.
“Also the departure of Vagner, one of our leading players.”
CSKA and Russia goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev was out for eight with a torn cruciate ligament before returning to action earlier this month.
Captain Sergei Ignashevich and midfielder Alan Dzagoev have both spent time out with a broken toe, while thigh injuries affected defender Vasily Berezutsky and Japanese midfielder Keisuke Honda.
Former Liverpool winger Mark Gonzalez has been out of action for over a year because of problems with his knee and hip, and is recovering from recent surgery in the United States.
