On his key takeaways from the cup match AEK which saw PAOK qualify for the last four:

«All that remains for me from that game is that we have already switched focused on the game with Atromitos. For me as a coach, but also for the players, it is forbidden to think about what happened three days ago; we should only be thinking about the game we have tomorrow. What we can say though about takeaways from these games with good teams and good players played within three days (Panathinaikos and AEK), with teams that can push high up the pitch and put you in a difficult position, is that we won both games and in fact coming from behind in both. So what we want to keep hold of is the huge effort that something like this takes, and our positive mentality. But if we focus too much on them and do not pay close attention to what’s coming in the next game, we risk losing something against a team that is fighting for their top flight status against relegation.»

On how different he exepcts Atromitos to be from the team PAOK met in the first half of the season:

«The coach at Atromitos is basing his approach on psychology. He is trying to unite the group, and I expect a difficult game.»

On the difficult fixture schedule that follows, and if he is thinking of making many changes:

«I will try to be as correct as I can. For us the most important game is always the next one. When you have to play in the league, in Europe and in the cup, it is normal to need all the players, and the whole group. There are players who have given us important solutions when we really needed them. In order to be considered a serious group of players, all of them have to be active and ready, that’s what we have in mind. It does not mean that we will make many changes, it does not mean that we will not make any. We will always decide the best appraoch that we think will get us the victory we want in each game.

In order for the fans to understand, a player can play at his best level for 4-5 games in a row. For other players perhaps that number will be 3, and it is rare for a player to play a larger number of consecutive games. We can liken it to a very good car that runs out of gas and we have to «fill it up» it. In these cases the energy lost can also be mental or spiritual, which is just as important. There are other players who will be needed to come in, players who are already in good shape and the team will take advantage of it, as well as the player himself. It is bad in a group for players to see that one player is playing a large consecutive games and another is not. The whole gets weakened and we do not want that. It’s important that everyone in the squad feels valued.»

On the series of 13 games with positive results, and if it is the PAOK that he has dreamed of seeing:

«What I focus on is tomorrow’s game. I want to win tomorrow like crazy.»

On Kurtic, and if he ever had a midfielder in his team’s who was the top scorer:

«We are all happy about his performance. He has the right perception and composure when it comes to taking a penalty kick, but he should also be aware that he is in a team that allows him to get close to the penalty area. Our style of play allows for this. But sometimes I do not care who will score, as long as we get the victory. Lyratzis, Sastre, Vieirinha have all scored, Sidcley does not care about that. Everyone can score. Recently Crespo made a mazy run against Asteras from the defense, and found himself in the opposition penalty area and he won a spot-kick.»