Mendilibar: The cup is of the utmost importance to me
The Eibar boss is set to field those players who don't regularly feature in La Liga
Speaking today in the press conference ahead of tomorrow's Copa del Rey clash against Sporting Gijón at El Molinón, SD Eibar coach, José Luis Mendilibar, confirmed that the competition is of "the utmost importance".
The Armeros' coach has named the following squad for the first-leg clash: Riesgo, Yoel; Capa, Arbilla, Lejeune, Dos Santos, Gálvez, Juncà, Rivera, Escalante, Fran Rico, Dani García, Inui, Jota, Bebé, Rubén Peña, Kike García and Nano.
"We rarely alter our line-up in LaLiga and there are players who are doing really well in training and aren't featuring in the games or even making the squad list and this is now their chance".
"The squad is ready for the game. If we get through the tie, we'll have a further two games and that would be really good as it'll give them all the chance to continue being involved in competitive games".
In Mendilibar's view, the difference in the way that both sides will approach tomorrow's game owes to the fact that "given that they're near the bottom, they've got what's a very important game coming up in La Liga". "Their focus will be on tomorrow's match, but they'll also have one eye on this weekend's game. We're just thinking about tomorrow's clash, and in that regard, we have an advantage over them".
"For them, the cup can be something to excite them and help them to believe that they're capable of performing well, whilst giving them some mental strength for the La Liga campaign. Knowing that the return leg is at home, we'd like to come back from Gijón with a good result".