Garitano: If you want to be promoted, you have to have the personality to win these games

Gaizka Garitano stated that "if you want to be promoted, you have to have the personality to play these games".

Speaking at the press conference ahead of Thursday’s game at Mendizorroza against Deportivo Alavés, the Eibar coach stressed that his side's advantage is that "we always play away from home with the mentality of going for the win".

EQUALITY

"The tie is evenly matched, I don't give much importance to playing away because we're also good competitors away from home. They'll be playing at their ground, they'll have the fans on their side, but I'm sure there'll be people from Eibar supporting us. If you want to move up the table, you have to have the personality to play these games. What we have to do is compete well. We hope to play a good game.

"We're not afraid of these kinds of matches, because if you want to move up a level you know that sooner or later these games are going to come and you have to play them. You can't think about promotion without winning at Mendizorroza or wherever you play. It's part of the process of achieving something as difficult as promotion."

PERSONALITY

"They are a team that always goes out to win at home and we have shown with a lot of victories away from home that we have the personality to go for the win. Mentally, we don't have to change anything in our approach to the game because we have to go out to win because in every game the team goes out pushing high and attacking. It is not like other teams that would have to change their approach. We have the disadvantage of the result, in that they benefit from a draw, but we have the advantage that we always play away from home in the same way and therefore we don't have to change the mentality of going out to win."

"I don't really like to talk about rivals and even less so in these kinds of circumstances. It's Eibar who have to play a good game. We already know what their strengths are. We are two teams that know each other very well, they know perfectly well what things we are good at and we know what things they are good at. We have prepared well for the game, we know what we have to do and what we have to avoid doing if we want to have a chance of winning. You always have to take into account what the opponent does, but for me it's always what you do that comes first. When you are in these last games, playing finals or whatever, you have to try to win. We're not afraid of this game, we're looking forward to it."

ADVERSITIES

"I don't like to hear myself talking about referees because it sounds like an excuse and I look ridiculous talking about referees. There are times when it is very difficult to analyse a match without talking about the refereeing. The other day, for example, we got six cards and Alavés got none. These kinds of small details count. We don't want them to give us anything, but we don't want to take anything away either.

"In the first halves of matches, nothing is being played, the other day 24 minutes of real play. We're used to opposing teams doing that to us, but that's something you have to mould yourself to. Alavés is a team that doesn't do that, at home they always try to win. To get promoted, what you have to do is overcome all adversity, which is what winners do, and not make excuses."