Michael Dawson has a warning for Tottenham ahead of Olympiacos clash

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Michael Dawson has told Tottenham Hotspur’s official website that Mauricio Pochettino’s players must be at their best to beat Olympiacos, after the former Spurs captain played against Olympiacos in pre-season with Nottingham Forest.

Spurs begin their Champions League campaign with a trip to Greece in Group B, and fans will be hoping that they can go one step further than last season when the north London side reached the final of the competition.

Dawson turned out for Nottingham Forest back in July during a pre-season friendly in Greece, with Forest owned by businessmen from Greece. The Championship side suffered a 3-0 defeat to the Champions League side.

Former Spurs rock Dawson warned the Tottenham players that they must be at their best to beat Olympiakos, highlighting the atmosphere as a major influence on Wednesday night.

“It’s a tough place to go and the lads will have to be right at it,” Dawson said. “You’ll need to handle the atmosphere, but European games are like that, the players know that and they’ve seen it all before, reached the final last season and what better preparation than that 4-0 win against Palace? That was a great performance.”

TBR’s view – Spurs must do better than last season’s group stage

Tottenham earned just one point from their first three group games last season and it left them with little chance of reaching the knockout rounds. However, they managed to do just that with seven from their next three.

Spurs lost to Inter and Barcelona and drew with PSV, but then recovered to beat Inter and PSv and draw with Barca. This time around, they must start a lot better – and a win at Olympiacos will ease the pressure on Pochettino and Spurs.