Pepe Mel is aware of the importance of the three points at stake in Sunday’s match to keep his side in touch with the top teams in the league, and explained that, apart from studying their rivals "the main thing is for us to do things well as a team and to always give our best. We need to show that we deserve to be near the top of the table".
Rubén Castro has been recalled to the squad for the first time since his injury, and Mel said it was now time "to gradually give him more playing time. He is an important player for us and we need to look after him". He then spoke of the club’s latest signing, Aridai, who has also been included in the squad. "He may not be match-fit but his forward movement and his one on ones will be very useful to us".
The manager underlined the fact that they would never "get in the way of a player who wanted to leave the club, and whose transfer fee would benefit the club" with reference to Sergio Araujo. To end with, he spoke of the absence of Fede Varela in the travelling party to Santander, saying "we don’t want to risk him and we want to have him back fully fit for the following match”.
