Two people hurt in a shooting at the Greek home of a former Sheffield United player

Two people were wounded in a shootout after armed robbers invaded the Athens home of football coach Giorgos Donis, a former player at Sheffield United, and briefly held his father-in-law hostage, police said.

A police officer was shot in the leg and an alleged armed robber was also wounded. Mr Donis, coach of PAOK Thessaloniki, lives in Athens' upmarket Kifissia area.

The two gunmen were arrested following a large police operation involving a helicopter and dozens of officers on foot and on motorcycles. One of the alleged attackers was identified as a 25-year-old Albanian man.

Jewellery snatched by the robbers was also recovered, police said.

The 42-year-old Mr Donis, a former Greek international midfielder, was not present when two men entered his home, holding his wife's parents and two children at gunpoint.

Police were alerted after his wife was returning home and apparently spotted the gunmen through a window. She alerted police guards posted outside the neighbouring home of former Finance Minister George Papaconstantinou.

Police said the gunmen briefly took her father hostage as they left the building, before letting him go unharmed.

Armed robbery has risen sharply in Greece since the country's major financial crisis broke out in late 2009.

Mr Donis took over at financially struggling PAOK at the end of the season, after coaching top-flight club Atromitos and taking them to the Greek Cup Final for two successive years.