Mendilibar includes feeder-team pair in tomorrow's squad
Eibar will be bidding to capitalise on the 3-0 away triumph from the first leg to take their place in the quarter-finals
José Luis Mendilibar has named two players from the club's feeder team, CD Vitoria, in his squad for tomorrow's Copa del Rey round-of-16 second-leg clash at Ipurua (19:00), with centre-back Julen López and central midfielder Imanol Sarriegi included in the squad.
The SD Eibar boss has to contend with injuries to Iván Ramis, Kike García and Anaitz Arbilla for this game, whilst Cristian Rivera misses out through suspension. Meanwhile, Mendilibar has decided to rest Antonio Luna and Sergi Enrich.
The squad list for tomorrow's game is as follows: Yoel; Capa, Dos Santos, Lejeune, Gálvez, Juncà, Julen López, Dani García, Escalante, Adrián, Fran Rico, Sarriegi, Pedro León, Inui, Bebé, Rubén Peña and Nano.
Speaking in his pre-match press conference ahead of tomorrow's encounter, Mendilibar underlined that he is aiming to, "get the players into a frame of mind where they believe that we have to go out to win".
"The 3-0 away victory in the first leg is a result that we would have taken before kick-off, but there have been cases in which teams have managed to turn such results around. We only have to go back as far as last term, when we overcame a 3-0 deficit (against Ponferradina), and this season, we were 3-0 up at half-time at Cornellá and they came back to get a draw. Yesterday, Las Palmas were just a goal short of turning the tie around after having lost 2-0 at home in the first leg. I think that we've taken a massive step towards the next round, but we've still got to go out and play this game".
Mendilibar went on to highlight that Osasuna, "showed themselves to be capable of drawing a game (against Valencia on Monday) in which they trailed on three occasions. They've certainly got the character and desire and that's in their favour. They'll come here to compete and will be aware that it'll be very tough".
"It's important that we try and make a strong start and get a goal, so as to make them believe that a comeback would be impossible".
When asked about the prospect of Eibar making the Copa del Rey quarter-finals for the first time in the club's history, the Armeros' boss stressed that it would be significant, "to be remembered by everyone, but it would be particularly important for the club, which has been making forward steps over the last few years. We hope to continue making progress in the future".