Pepe Mel: "Tana will have his player's licence to play in the local derby"
UD Las Palmas manager Pepe Mel said today, concerning tomorrow's clash against CD Tenerife, that "Tana will have his player's licence to play, and he is in the squad for the match tomorrow". Mel added "the league table means nothing in these types of matc
"We are going to give Tana his player's licence regardless of whether Araujo leaves the club in the next few hours or not. Tana is included in the squad along with the rest of the players, and is available to play in the game against Tenerife", he continued. The manager made it clear that "the best thing for everyone now is to stop talking about Jonathan Viera. We need to look ahead and not keep harking back to his situation".
As for his players' motivation, he stated: "We had a chat in the dressing room today because there a lot of Canarian players in the team. This makes the club and the city proud. They fire themselves up for a special game like a local derby. Fabio has played plenty of derby matches at many different levels, since the under-14s. Benito has told me that this will be his first local derby. We have a lot of Canarian players, so there is a special atmosphere in the dressing room".
Mel believes that Tenerife should be higher up in the league than they are because they have lost matches in which they have played well. "Out of all the teams you need to prepare to compete against, they are the ones. Aitor Sanz and Milla are outstanding at this level. Suso always raises his game against Las Palmas. Joselu is a good signing, and can score goals. Tenerife will finish the season in a different league position", he said.
The Estadio Gran Canaria will have its best attendance of the season so far. "I always think the stadium has been something of a sad place over the last eleven months. But it is up to the team to bring the fans back to matches. I was surprised that only around 8,000 fans turned up for the match against Zaragoza, when they were third and we were sixth. The players bring the fans through the turnstiles".
All the players, with the exception of Álvaro Lemos, have been called up for tomorrow's match. The squad will be staying at a hotel in the capital for lunch and to relax in the hours prior to the local derby against CD Tenerife (17.15 horas).
