Angelos Anastasiadis conceded a press conference at “Artemio Franchi” and spoke about the UEFA Europa League encounter against ACF Fiorentina, his team’s condition, the rival and the future. Here is what he said:

About his starting line-up plans:

“We will wait to check out the condition of some guys up until before the match. There is no reason to take unnecessary risks”.

About fatigue:

“I don’t believe the players feel tired before the game. Their fatigue levels are normal after so many back-to-back encounters. We are a big club and deal with it appropriately”.

Whether a positive result on Thursday is a one-way street for PAOK:

“We face each game as if it were our last. We had two bad results in our recent UEFA Europa League matches, but we are now presented with the opportunity to win and qualify, I don’t decide that”.

About Greek football’s level compared to Serie A:

“Greek football has improved and the gap has been reduced, not just compared to Italian football. Results speak for themselves. Greek football has been on the ascendency in the last 15 years”.

About the possible inclusion of Mario Gómez in ACF Fiorentina’s starting line-up:

“If he doesn’t get to play, someone else will. We will deal with whoever is selected”.

Whether he expected PAOK to be better in this particular stage of the season:

“We have been aiming for the best since day one. I am satisfied, but we could have done better in some areas. That depends on lots of things, especially the response to back-to-back matches and training sessions. Some players could have helped the team and themselves more”.

About UEFA.com’s recent feature about PAOK:

“I hope that, come May, we will have achieved more and there will be even better reviews”.

Whether he watched ACF Fiorentina’s errors against Sampdoria:

“ACF Fiorentina are not doing well in Serie A. However their result against Sampdoria doesn’t reflect their performance. Focusing on that result would be a big mistake from our part. In the Thessaloniki game, we repeated errors of the past and ACF Fiorentina took advantage of it. A lot happened, but this is a conversation for me and the team, not here”.

For the upcoming match against Panathinaikos:

“We have to win tomorrow. We have to focus on tomorrow’s game. That is what I try to convey to my players”.

Whether there is a special approach to the game against ACF Fiorentina:

“We are alert when faced with such games. Adrenaline runs wild. We do our best. The sight of the fans in the first match, cheering for us despite the defeat was unbelievable. Our supporters realize the effort we put in. I believe that tomorrow our effort will be rewarded and we will get a positive result”.