Thursday’s training session at Nea Mesimvria was intense and lasted more than 90 minutes. In the first part, players worked on their physical condition and finishing with combination drills consisting of sprints, shots and endurance exercises. In the second part of the session, PAOK footballers engaged in a half-pitch training match with alternate pressing and organized defence.

Stefanos Athanasiadis followed a specialized program and didn’t complain of any pains in the iliopsoas muscle. On Friday he will make an attempt to full training along with his teammates. Dimitris Salpingidis and Fanis Tzandaris trained apart and the former’s participation in the encounter against Atromitos will depend on his sensations in the last two training sessions of the week. Charles Itandje and Alexandros Tziolis trained without problems, while Efthymis Koulouris and Stelios Pozoglou returned from their Greece U19 duty and had a specialized trained session.

Friday’s training session will start at 17:30 at Toumba Stadium.