Tottenham - PAOK Preview: Hosts Looking To Close Gap At Top Of Group A In Their 150th European Outing

TOTTENHAM Gomes Walker, Sandro, Bassong, Assou-Ekotto Lennon, Livermore, Modric, Dos Santos Defoe, Pavlyuchenko

PAOK Kresic Etto, Contreras, Malezas, Lino Arias, Garcia, Fotakis Salpingidis, Athanasiadis, Papazoglou

Tottenham have five injury worries ahead of their clash at White Hart Lane on Wednesday evening, with Rafael van der Vaart, Danny Rose, Nico Kranjcar, Tom Huddlestone and Michael Dawson all unavailable for selection.

The visiting side will have an almost full squad to choose from, but former Porto player Vierinha will not travel to London after sustaining an injury at the weekend in their Greek Super League fixture against Kerkyra.

The hosts will most likely be taking this tie seriously with three out of the four teams all up for a place in the last 32 of the Europa League, with the visitors especially geared up after going unbeaten so far in Group A and currently topping the table by a narrow solitary point.

• This is the 23rd Europa League (or equivalent) campaign for PAOK.

• The side hold the second most consecutive participations in Europe’s second tier competition, entering the tournament nine times in a row from 1997/98 to 2005/06 – just one behind Belgian side Club Brugge's record of 10 uninterrupted entries.

• The Greek outfit’s most successful run in the tournament was back in the 1997/98 season, when they qualified for the second round by beating Arsenal 2-1 on aggregate in the first, but lost to Spanish side Atletico Madrid 9-6 over two legs.

• Current attacker Dimitrios Salpingidis (pictured right) is PAOK’s most appeared player in a Uefa competition and also the side’s highest goalscorer in Europe.

• Tottenham were the inaugural winners of the now defunct Uefa Cup in 1972 and last won the tournament in 1984.

• The game against Laszlo Boloni’s side will be a landmark for Spurs, with the north London outfit playing their 150th game in a Uefa competition, whilst PAOK can record their 150^th European goal against Harry Redknapp’s men.

• Spurs made the last 32 in their last Europa League campaign back in 2008/09, which was the last in a trio of consecutive appearances.