«We must react»
PAOK’s last two encounters in the Super League didn’t go as Vladan Ivić had planned and now he expects his troops to react. The head coach of the “Double-Headed Eagle” spoke to Novasports TV and analyzed his thoughts ahead of the Thessaloniki derby against AEP Iraklis.
On the friendly encounter against FK Partizan:
«We aimed for a hard-fought friendly encounter. We played against a team very close to my heart. We played a good game and completed our preparation«.
On whether they worked on something specific during the international break:
«We always do targeted work and our preparation also depends on our next opponent. Our latest two league results weren’t the desired ones, but we no longer look to the past. We look ahead. Our upcoming encounter is very tough against an organized side. They have good players, they have fast attacking players and we must be very careful. We are optimistic, we have been working for two weeks now and we want to play a good game and combine it with a positive result«.
On Tzavellas’s injury:
«Tzavellas suffered an injury during his international duty for Greece and unfortunately he won’t be our disposal for the next few days. He is working hard in order to join us shortly«.
On whether he is focusing only on the encounter against Iraklis:
«Just the upcoming game. That is our objective and we can’t affort thinking about other matches now. That is my belief and I never stop telling that to my players. We only focus on Iraklis«.
On the game against AEP Iraklis and how to win it:
«I expect my players to react, especially after our latest game. That was arguably our worst match this season. Before Veria, there was another mediocre result, but at least we had played well in that one. We had passion and showed we wanted those three points from minute one. I am not looking for excuses for the Veria result. I am asking my players to give everything in all matches, so that they will have a clear conscience. After Veria, all of us thought we could have done something more and felt badly about it. We need to change that in our next game«.
On the message conveyed by the memorial service at Tempi:
«That we stand united. We don’t forget people we lost and had been with us for years. We stand by every decision of the administration and by our fans who are always by our side. We try to support them as they support us –and will do so for ever«.
