Panathinaikos - Rubin Kazan Preview: Hosts without Gilberto Silva and Sidney Govou as they look to kick-start campaign

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Panathinaikos

Sotiris Ninis could play a role on Wednesday after recovering from a foot problem, while Giourkas Seitaridis too is fit.

Jose Sarriegi is back but Sebastian Leto, Antonis Petropoulos, Cedric Kante and Sidney Govou have been sidelined along with the suspended Gilberto Silva.

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Rubin Kazan

The visitors come into the game without to many injuries concerns, with Roman Sharonov the only certain absentee with a knee problem.

Restoring damaged fortunes

Greek champions Panathinaikos have a very simple task on hand on Wednesday evening: win against Rubin Kazan at home. Pana have lost their opening two matches in the Champions League and are placed at the bottom of the group with no points.

A 5-1 humiliation to Barcelona at the Nou Camp was followed by a shock 2-0 defeat to FC Copenhagen at home. A third successive loss in the group could just about spell the end of their adventure in Europe, given that they would have been beaten in two of their home fixtures and the remaining one would be against the mighty Barca.

They are doing pretty well in the Greek Super League, however, as they are just a point behind Olympiakos in second, and striker Djibril Cisse has stressed the significance of an European victory.

He said: "You win you get an extra life; lose and you can wave goodbye to the Champions League.

"[Against Copenhagen] we didn't play as a team. We were too spread out, there wasn't enough cohesion to our play.''

Climbing up the ladder

Rubin Kazan commenced their Champions League quest on a note of disappointment as they went down 1-0 to FC Copenhagen in Denmark, but they recovered on Matchday Two when they drew 1-1 with Barcelona.

The Russians are currently third in Group D, three points behind Barca and five behind leaders Copenhagen, and will know that a win in Greece will vehemently increase their chance of qualifying for the second round.

Panathinakos’s defeat to Copenhagen in Athens will certainly give them reason to believe that they can script a Russian tragedy too on Wednesday evening.

However, coach Kurban Berdyev is wary of Pana’s strengths, stating: “We don't fear any one player but we have to be very careful against a team like Panathinaikos. They are one of the grandest clubs in European football and they have lots of Champions League experience.

“We will be watching all their players, not just one or two of them. I'm not going to say how we intend to play but we will be going for a result. I decided to take my players on a trip to the Acropolis – we must pay our respects to the cradle of our civilisation.”