Ignashevich, who will turn 39 in July, retired from international football following UEFA Euro 2016 but was called up to head coach Stanislav Cherchesov's preliminary World Cup squad in May to replace injured Rubin Kazan defender Ruslan Kambolov. The 38-year-old is Russia's most capped player, having made 121 appearances for the country since his international debut in 2002.

"Ignashevich is absolutely fine. There is no need to look at how old he is when assessing his game. We don't have any defenders who are better than him anyway. It's great that he is back playing with the national team," Barasa said.

Russia suffered a 1-0 loss to Austria in a friendly on Wednesday, with the World Cup hosts not managing a single shot on goal during the game.

"It is clear that physically, the squad is being worked very hard, but it is a little strange that they were not able to get any shots on goal. Austria are a good team, but they are not a top team. They are at a similar level to Russia. If Russia want to be successful at the World Cup, they need to be beating such teams,” Barasa added.

He also said that Russia needed a win to start believing in themselves.

"Russia are a good team, but they lack confidence and are struggling to play as a team. Everyone understands that the home World Cup happens once in a lifetime, and the public attention is focused on the team," Barasa noted.

Russia will host its first World Cup from June 14 to July 15 and they will face Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Uruguay in Group A at the tournament.