PAOK Salonika worried about Hearts European tie as they speak about fight, mentality and pressure in Thessaloniki

Greeks know what to expect inside a rocking Toumba

PAOK Salonika coach Razvan Lucescu is confident his team have the required mentality to eliminate Hearts, but the Romanian admitted he is worried about Thursday night’s Europa Conference League play-off return leg. The Greeks lead 2-1 and Lucescu believes he knows Hearts’ qualities for the meeting in the Toumba Stadium.

He is demanding mental strength and resilience from his players in front of an expectant and passionate home crowd which is likely to exceed 20,000. “I don’t believe our team thinks the job is almost done,” he said. “I believe everyone in our team has a huge determination and will to qualify and have a nice experience going forward. I am confident we will give everything on the pitch.

“We know Hearts’ style. They might change their system or keep the same system but each team generally has its own identity and we know theirs. And we know if we are not perfect in our actions then they can create some danger, as we saw at Tynecastle. Football is football. You must be very correct to have the result you want.

“Worried? I must be worried before a game of qualification like this. You must be well prepared, mentally strong and concentrated, to be able to react, to read situations quickly and adapt to them. It’s football and I know anything can happen in a game like this. So, for this reason, you could say I am worried.

“But we are in a good period. We have improved from our first competitive game, we have grown mentally and we show a lot of determination and concentration to take victories.”

Whilst Hearts are under pressure to overhaul the deficit, PAOK know they must deliver for their supporters. “I believe both teams have their pressure in different ways,” said Lucescu. “When you are going to play a game and qualification is at stake it is normal to have pressure.

“Pressure because you have qualification in your hands, pressure because you start with a disadvantage and pressure because if you don’t win the tie you will be out of Europe. I don’t know who will have more pressure, but we start with a small advantage compared to the previous game because we are at home and we won the first game. We must be perfect mentally and be ready to fight to stay in front of our opponents.”

PAOK coach Razvan Lucescu speaks ahead of Thursday's European match with Hearts.

PAOK’s Serbian midfielder Andrija Zivkovic, scorer of the winning goal in last week’s first leg, warned Hearts to be prepared for the madness of the Toumba ultras. “The atmosphere is incredible, we have amazing fans,” he smiled. “It is a big thrill to play here, I’m really happy we play the second game here at our home. The Toumba will be full. The supporters are crazy and I hope we will beat Hearts tomorrow and qualify.

“We have played them already, we know their style, we expect one really difficult game. We know the way they will come here and play, we have prepared for this, we are ready. I expect a good game and I hope we will win.”