«PAOK will be determined»
It’s play-off time for the “Double-Headed Eagle” and Vladan Ivić spoke to Novasports TV analyzing his thoughts on the encounter against AEK Athens, his team’s condition and all that is happening nowadays in Greek football. Here is what he said:
On what is happening in Greek football:
«I am sure we all agree that all this is bad for Greek football. Hopefully this is the last season that we have to deal with off-pitch situations and those running football will find solutions to this situation. I sincerely wish that and I believe that, come next season, things will return to normal«.
On the long period of inactivity:
«This inactivity won’t serve as excuse in the play-offs for us or for our rivals. We had quite a few days at our disposal to work on several things. Kick-off is approaching and I believe we will be ready for our first match«.
On the injured players:
«I am sure that I will have Berbatov and Leovac at my disposal. Not necessarily for the first match, but our medical staff is doing everything in their power. Both of them are improving day by day«.
On the recovery of almost all injured players and his full roster ahead of the play-offs:
«I sure am very happy about it. Many options mean as many plans. Of course, in football, one can’t see very far. We have six matches ahead and 18 points up for grabs. We will face each game separately, starting with the first one, against AEK Athens«.
On the change at the helm of AEK Athens:
«I mainly deal with my own team. Since the day I took over, I have been saying that PAOK have quality players with strong character, who will prove themselves on the pitch. Of course, playing behind closed doors in Toumba Stadium is a problem for us. We need to get over it though, as we have done in the past, and respond well. We need to come out of this stronger«.
On what the fans should expect from the team in this mini tournament:
«A determined PAOK who will fight for the best. Six tough encounters and 18 points. We will give it our 100% to go as far as possible«.
On the differences between the play-off games against these three rivals and the regular season encounters:
«They are totally different. We are at the end of a long season and all teams are tired. There is scarcely any time left between games and I believe that the team with the best preparation and best roster will prevail«.
On the encounter against AEK Athens:
«They are a good team with fine players. We respect them of course, but we will try to impose our game and gain our first three-pointer«.
