On the key takeaways he has kept from the trio of last week’s games:

«Ultimately, what we hold on to are the times when we played good football, the situations we created to be able to score. What we do not keep are some ups and downs, some transitions in our performance that cost us some goals. At the same time it is a psychological issue that we already have to deal with in order to be able to really come out and show the work we do – because we do a lot of work in this part – a team that has our own requirements, and the work we do in order not to concede goals. And so I think it is a psychological state that we already have to reverse to work in our favor.»

I want to clarify very openly that I am not talking at the moment about the team’s defensive line, I am talking about the team’s total operation as a whole because when we defend we start with the attacking players. We have to be very solid and substantial when we lose possession of the ball in specific parts of our defensive area, so we are talking about an overall function and not only about the team’s defensive line.»

On whether he believes that in tomorrow’s game his team will address many of the elements that he analyzes above:

«A very important part is that of self-confidence, an element that we really need. When things are going well, the self-confidence is there, but when a mistake is made, there is a fall, a drop in self-confidence. We are at a crucial point where during the year we have shown that we can play good football, and this is point about self-confidence is something that we need to stabilize because this is how the character of the team is and we want to create and build it at the same time.

Tomorrow’s game can not be compared with the previous one. It is a game in which we will need energy, enthusiasm; a game in which we want to win to get the confidence we need, a very important element as we mentioned before. We want to win the game tomorrow, and are aiming to play good football so that we can build momentum and a flow in the results. It’s normal when you start to have some up and downs, but it is important to have consistency in your work.»

On the fact that injury problems continue for the team with the names of Mitrita and Sidcley being added to the list, and whether this constantly upsets his plans:

«This is the situation with regard to injuries and the covid period; these are situations that we will definitely have to adjust to. Nevertheless, there is no time to complain about it.  It is a situation to which we have to adapt. We had a situation where we lost our concentration and maybe we relaxed a bit more and threw away the two points. We then had the game in Copenhagen that we won, which was a very important victory.

After two days we then had a game, a derby against Olympiacos. We may not have had the full confidence levels that we needed to win this game against a team that was not in the best condition, and so this is related to what I told you before with the transitions and ups and downs that exist in our performance and the fact that we have to stabilize it ourselves through the work that is done on the training ground.

In the Europa Conference League group, we are in first place, and we want that first place. It is our goal to be able to have an easier path in the competition going forward. In the championship a week ago we were in first place, then after taking the minimum points we could get in the two games we had we are now further behind.

What we need to find – as I mentioned before – is stability in our performances. And I think if we get that, then the whole picture will improve and we will have a very good team.»

On Oliveira’s return to action and the return of Kurtic in his plans:

«We cannot say that Oliveira’s return is near. There are plenty of things that still need to be done as far as his case is concerned. He is definitely a footballer who played very well in the games he has had with us so far. Unfortunately he goit injured so of course we wanr to see him back. We can not grumble about this. Kurtic is a footballer who gives us peace of mind in midfield. Nevertheless, he had an issue with covid, so he could not play unfortunately.

In any case, we should focus – as I have mentioned many times – on the players we have available and we need to work with them. There have been many situations and changes in terms of the operation of the team. There have been players who came in later on, players who may have left, the fact that Sidcley and Mitrita have gotten injured may be due to the fact that they were not with us for most of the pre-season preparation. We have said many times that we are on the right track and we should enable all footballers to feel important, and use those we have and try for the best possible result with them every time.

Because if we have to talk about special cases of footballers, then we have to talk about both Omar El Kaddouri and Crespo who were missing for a reasonable period of time – something which deprived us of footballers who have the experience, personality and quality that could possibly have helped us create a different fate. 

And I have not yet mentioned Ingason, a footballer who has not been involved from the first day of pre-season but is still a player with a big personality. So, having all these footballers who have strong personalities measn that the team as a whole will be upgraded.»

On the rereturn of the fans to Gate 4:

«We have needed them a lot. I’m really happy because we become much stronger with them .»