Nikolic: “I have to find those who are mentally strong, even if I have to make tough decisions”

OR AEK suffered its first defeat in this year’s championship, losing 2-0 to PAOK in New Philadelphia.

Union coach, Marko Nikolictook full responsibility for the result, stressing that it is unacceptable for the team to lose concentration her after a difficult time.

He made it clear that he is not going to allow this to happen again, even if he has to take it difficult decisionswhile underlining the need to identify which players have the required spiritual power.

What Marko Nikolic said in detail at the press conference:

On what went wrong and if he would change anything about his initial choices: “The result is difficult. The responsibility rests with me. Even if mistakes were made by the players. It was a strange matchup. In the first part we did not deserve this result. We had a post, good moments, chances, saves from their goalkeeper. PAOK’s chances were the result of our mistakes. The unfortunate thing was that we couldn’t recover after 0-1. I learned many things, we don’t like the result, the responsibility lies primarily with me. Next is the match against Aberdeen, the derby with Olympiacos is coming, it was our first defeat, but we don’t have time to… cry. We wouldn’t do it anyway. Defeat is unpleasant, but we don’t have time to think about it. We don’t look for excuses, we sit back and look at the next matches. So, in the first part we were quite a bit better. PAOK’s goals were due to our mistakes. We never recovered after the goal we conceded.”

On how he explains our third-straight concentration levels have been low and why Jonsson doesn’t have a place in the starting line-up against Grujic: “We came to play with our fans who give us a boost. At some point a noise began to be heard. This is no reason to lose your concentration and do unreasonable things. We must have stability. We should have been ahead, but we conceded a goal. We had to keep going without losing our balance. I will not allow this to happen again even if I have to make tough decisions. I don’t comment on any player personally, I support all players in difficult times. We must have the spiritual strength because what is coming will not be easy at all. It is not acceptable to lose our minds in a difficulty. I have to find those who are mentally strong and, like a machine, perform what they should.”