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Partizan Belgrade head coach Marko Nikolic says his side have "nothing to lose" against Tottenham when they face each other in the Europa League group stage on Thursday. - Fitch: Spurs have depth to compete domestically and in Europe Spurs begin their Group C campaign with a tough-looking match in Serbia against 25-time national champions Partizan. Nikolic's side finished runners-up in the Serbian Super Liga last term and began this season in the Champions League, before being edged out on away goals by Ludogorets in the third qualifying round. It has meant Partizan's attention has switched to the Europa League and the head coach says they approach the group-stage opener with the pressure off, given that Spurs are the favourites. "Of course you have nothing to lose in this match," Nikolic told his prematch news conference. "We managed to bring back a good competitive rhythm in [Saturday's 4-2 league win against] Cukaricki and now we have the strongest possible opponents at the beginning of this competition, Tottenham. "Partizan have partially fulfilled its goal by making the group stage, but I do not want to be mere participants. I want to try to compete at this level, to show how much power we have. "We will not make big promises, but we will try to win this match as we do with every match." Partizan, unbeaten in all 11 matches this season, will be without Andrija Zivkovic and Darko Brasanac on Thursday through injury, while Peter Skuletic is banned after being sent off against Neftci in the playoff round. Group C also includes Besiktas and Asteras Tripolis as well as Partizan and Spurs.
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