Roberto: AEK atmosphere will be 'hot'

Main Club Sponsor

TICKETS

SHOP

Head coach believes his team are in a good moment in the season.

Bruce Talbot

2023-11-30T06:00:00Z

Roberto De Zerbi's team go into Thursday night's game on the back of a 3-2 win over Nottingham Forest.

Roberto De Zerbi says Albion have to ‘love the challenge’ of trying to reach the knockout stages of the Europa League.

Victory over AEK Athens in the Greek capital tonight would guarantee a top two finish in Group B although Albion’s head coach is under no illusions as to the size of the task awaiting his players, who haven’t won any of their three games since beating Albion at the Amex back in September.

“We want to win for sure but we know the difficulty of the game,” said De Zerbi. “AEK are a very good opponent with a clear plan to win. We will have to show our best mentality and attitude, but we have to love the challenge.”

Ansu Fati was substituted during the first half against Nottingham Forest.

Ansu Fati and Tariq Lamptey joined a lengthy injury list during the 3-2 win at Nottingham Forest on Saturday, although defender Igor Julio is back in contention and trained at the AEK Arena on Wednesday night.

Despite the disruption caused by injuries, De Zerbi says Albion are ‘reaching the best level of mentality’ so far this season and he firmly believes his side can compete both in Europe and the Premier League.

“I don’t like excuses. I am only focused on AEK today but our [overall] target is the same. When we play every game we have to give our best.

“It’s a challenge for us, but injuries are not an excuse. We are good enough to compete in the Premier League and Europa League - we showed a great mentality against Nottingham Forest. The focus is on those who can play tonight. We have the players to compete, to fight to win the game.”

Joao Pedro has hit four goals in the group stages including two penalties before AEK grabbed a late winner at the Amex.

“We have learned a lot since the first game,” said De Zerbi. “It was difficult, there was a big emotion especially [as the game was] at the Amex. But we are adapting to play in big stadium in Europe.

“I don’t know what the atmosphere will be tonight, but their fans will be very hot and it’s an honour for us to play in this stadium. We are very lucky to play in the competition and we have to enjoy competing against teams like AEK. They are a good team and I have big respect for their coach [Matias Almeyda]. All games in Europa League are tough and we know their experience and quality in this competition.”