Orenburg started the season among relegation candidates but it was clearly from early on that Vladislav Fedotov has created a solid and at the same tome flexible and energetic side that had the ability and preparation needed to be competitive in the league. They played well to get a shock early win over Lokomotiv Moscow and then nearly claimed a victory over Krasnodar too.
On the other hand, a few good performances and wins on the road gave them a good points tally and they never really worried about being dragged into the relegation zone. The teams's defence, consisting of three assured players who all knew themselves well and their jobs, was their main strength while the likes of Aleksey Sutormin and Denis Popovic played a great role in the attacking positions too to make the team dangerous.
They never really had a drop-off in terms of form and results remained steady despite the accumulation of fatigue and the lack of early surprise factor. Indeed, Orenburg were hard done by a couple of losses against top teams like CSKA and Lokomotiv when they outplayed the opposition.
The core of the squad remained unchanged in the spring and Fedotov was able to still get some very good performances out of a team that was working hard as a unit and was willing to sacrifice themselves for the greater benefit.
Indeed, a streak of four wins in six games in April gave them a shot at the sixth spot and a possible entry to Europe but a few too many injuries took the sting out of the team and they could not keep up the pace late on. Still, Orenburg have been the undoubted overachievers of the league and Fedotov has done exemplary job there.
