Greece coach Fernando Santos has dropped midfield duo Alexandros Tziolis and Panagiotis Kone from his final 23-man squad for the European Championship.

Both players featured in Greece's 1-1 draw with Slovenia on Saturday, but Santos has decided Tziolis lacked fitness after only featuring three times for club side AS Monaco, while Kone had been expected to be cut after he hit a Slovenia player and was sent off.

Santos said: "We know that Tziolis hasn't played enough this season. But that's why we take players along to the training camp, to check out their condition."

AEK Athens' veteran striker Nikos Liberopoulos has made the cut after scoring seven goals in the Greek league. The 36-year-old joins Giorgos Samaras in attack, despite the Celtic player having scored just once in eight qualifiers.

"We've had problems developing our attacks. We need to keep possession more and be patient," Santos said. "What happened with Kone is a shame. Sometimes in the heat of the match we lose our minds."

Greece, the surprise champions at Euro 2004, were drawn with co-hosts Poland, Russia and the Czech Republic in Group A.

Greece squad

Goalkeepers: Kostas Chalkias (PAOK FC), Michalis Sifakis (Aris Thessaloniki FC), Alexandros Tzorvas (US Città di Palermo).

Defenders: Vassilis Torossidis (Olympiacos FC), Kyriakos Papadopoulos (FC Schalke 04), Sokratis Papastathopoulos (SV Werder Bremen), Avraam Papadopoulos (Olympiacos FC), José Holebas (Olympiacos FC), Giorgos Tzavellas (AS Monaco FC), Stelios Malezas (PAOK FC).

Midfielders: Kostas Katsouranis (Panathinaikos FC), Giorgos Karagounis (Panathinaikos FC), Giannis Maniatis (Olympiacos FC), Giorgos Fotakis (PAOK FC), Grigoris Makos (AEK Athens FC), Giannis Fetfatzidis (Olympiacos FC), Sotiris Ninis (Panathinaikos FC), Kostas Fortounis (1. FC Kaiserslautern).

Forwards: Dimitris Salpingidis (PAOK FC), Giorgos Samaras (Celtic FC), Fanis Gekas (Samsunspor), Nikos Liberopoulos (AEK Athens FC), Kostas Mitroglou (Atromitos FC).