Thanopoulos urges unity

Posted Thursday, November 05, 2009 by PA

AEK Athens president and managing director Nikos Thanopoulos has urged everyone at the club to "become a family again" to turn around a disappointing run of results.

The team are seventh in the Greek Super League with just three wins from nine games so far and have only three points from their first three games in Europa League Group I going into Thursday night's meeting with Belarusian side BATE, who beat them in the return fixture in Minsk a fortnight ago.

Thanopoulos met with coach Dusan Bajevic and the players this week at the club's Thrakomakedones training centre in a bid to spark an improvement and told www.sport.gr: "There are demands from you because you are good players.

"We all have responsibilities - the administration, the coach and the players. We all share the negative results.

"We need to become a family again as a team and get good results and people will join us and support us again. You need to do justice to yourselves and to the history of the team. That is why people have been angry."

AEK will be without Grigorios Makos after the defender suffered bad bruising to his thigh during the week. Fellow defender Daniel Majstorovic was also left out of the 19-man squad named by coach Dusan Bajevic because of a chest injury suffered by the Swede.

BATE are level with AEK on three points after beating the Greeks last time out but trail Benfica and Everton, who both have six.

Missing from Viktor Goncharenko's party for the trip to Athens was Igor Stasevich due to injury, along with Vitali Bulyga, who is struggling for match-fitness, and Hovhannes Goaryan who is struggling with an illness.

Goncharenko is happy with his team's preparations for the game and told the club's official website: "We have monitored AEK very carefully. We have videos of all the matches AEK have played since our last meeting and in this regard we have extensive information."

Goncharenko believes Majstorovic's absence will be a problem for AEK, adding: "Majstorovic is a true leader, an experienced and respected player who has long been in the AEK camp. Apparently, the team finds it very difficult to cope without him, particularly in the domestic league where Athens are not going so well. It is necessary (for them) to correct the situation, so now is no time for experiments."