And, among the supporters was actor Dougray Scott, the star of the current hit film "Enigma" being a life-long Hibs fan.

Another 160 or so supporters were expected to fly out tomorrow, again on deals subsidised by Hibs, for a day-trip to the Nikos Goumas Stadium, flying back, like those who left today, straight after the game, arriving back in Edinburgh in the early hours of Friday morning.

McLeish’s plans for the game have been disrupted by the foot injury suffered by midfield powerhouse Mathias Jack only three minutes from the end of Sunday’s win over Dunfermline.

The German star will undergo a fitness test in Greece tonight, when a decision will be made as to whether he plays or not, the bonus being that he has proved to be a quick healer in the past.

"Mathias has a chance and he says he will play, although he is feeling very tender," said McLeish.

"We won’t take a risk on him but he has been in great form and we would love him to play. At the moment, though, he is doubtful."

McLeish, meanwhile, has let slip the secret he’s been holding close to his chest for the past fortnight - the players he believes can cause a shock tomorrow.

The players now know who will play in the Nikos Goumas Stadium as Hibs return to UEFA Cup, but they’ve been sworn to remain silent.

McLeish revealed just seconds before the team flight to Greece was dramatically halted a week ago that he’d made up his mind who would play seven days previously.

And, although Hibs boosted their confidence ahead of tomorrow night’s first-round first-leg tie with a 5-1 win over Dunfermline at the weekend, McLeish sees no reason to change his mind.

But, while the Easter Road stars were left to guess as to the starting line-up a week ago, McLeish knows they’ll now have a very good idea of who is playing thanks to the intensive preparation which has gone into this match on the training ground.

He said: "The players pretty well know the line-up but they’ve been sworn to secrecy for the sake of AEK getting even the slightest hint."

However, McLeish knows AEK coach Fernando Manuel Santos will be able to have a good guess having had Hibs watched against Celtic and Motherwell.

He said: "They’ll probably predict our team just as we will predict their’s."

The postponement of the game as a mark of respect to the victims of the terrorist atrocities in the United States has, McLeish believed, actually been of benefit to Hibs, not only with the emphatic win over Dunfermline but the fact that strikers Craig Brewster and Paco Luna claimed their first goals for the Easter Road outfit.

He said: "We are probably better prepared confidence wise and hopefully by the time we take to the pitch the players will be brainwashed in terms of countering AEK."

Wednesday, 19th September 2001

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