Lucescu: ‘Unfair not to have Ozdoev – We need to run more than Hearts’

He is ready for a very big match PAOKwhich faces the Hearts on Thursday (24/8, 21:45) for his playoffs Conference.

Ahead of the match, Razvan Lucescu spoke at the press conference… after all. The Romanian coach spoke about the elements needed against the Scots, the complication with Magomed Ozdoev’s visa, the transfer scenarios for Caled Narey and the state of his team.

What Lucescu said in detail:

On Ozdoev’s absence: “At first I don’t feel good, I feel a sense of injustice not to have a footballer with us because of not being issued a visa, but at the moment I want to focus on tomorrow’s game.”

About the chemistry that PAOK creates: “I think that every day our relationship with the players is getting stronger, we are in a phase where we have very good levels of confidence, the daily work is very important, this is the way we go game by game.”

For team spirit: “We can say that the team spirit is at better levels. There are players from last season who make the transition smoother, the second part is the arrival of new players who have personality.

I have mentioned how much we need footballers with personality, this is very important for us. Also a very important element is the change of mentality of footballers like Michailidis, Murg and Vieirania, which is different compared to last season. They are very different in general.”

For the absence of F. Soares-Samata: “Filipe Soares is out for a period of time, Samata we want to believe will be available and ready for Sunday’s match. We know we have these players out, but we have to find ways to win, we have to overcome every obstacle and get the win. Sometimes this can work beneficially because there are footballers who will take the opportunity and this can work beneficially for us.”

On whether he has singled out any Hearts players: “I don’t want to focus on footballers. Hearts are completely different to our previous opponent. They are a team that wants to play with a direct game, they want to bring the ball into the area.”

For Kalend Narey: “I don’t want to think about that part, the players who are here, they are available for the match against Hearts and that’s all I want to think about. In any case, they are difficult situations to manage, that’s how August is, not only for PAOK but for all teams. We have a game tomorrow and we have to focus there.”

For Harry Tsingaras: “He’s ready!”

On how he will face the match against Hearts: “In any case we should run more than the opponent. We will have to give 150%, if we need to run more than Hearts, we will.”