Mendilibar: Whoever emerges victorious on Sunday will be given a boost
The Eibar boss underlined the importance of what he defined as an encounter against a team "from our mini-league"
Speaking today in his pre-match press conference ahead of Sunday's clash against RC Deportivo (Ipurua, 12:00 kick-off), José Luis Mendilibar stated that "It's a meeting between two sides that are struggling to win games and who are down there in the table", before adding that the team that emerges victorious "will be given a boost".
"It's one of those games in which it's important for you to win to put points on the board, whilst at the same time preventing the opposition from getting anything".
Mendilibar welcomes welcomes back defensive pair Iván Ramis and Alejandro Gálvez, whilst he'll have to contend with the absences of Yoel, Fran Rico, Pedro León and Iván Alejo. Meanwhile, the remaining 20 members of the squad are all available for selection.
"I'm feeling relaxed. Ultimately we try to do our best day in, day out, train well and make sure that the players are ready on a matchday to compete and go all the way with our opponents. Then whether things go your way or not is a different matter. We're feeling very assured and it's good that the fans are getting behind us. Everyone needs to be united as one and realise that at certain times we'll have to dig in".
Right now what we need are the points because we are where we are in the league and picking up some points can help to give you a lift. In this division there are seven to eight sides fighting for Europe and the rest of us are average teams. Amongst these lesser sides, any of them can leapfrog us at any stage and you can end up right down there in the final matchdays and then it's a real struggle to haul yourself out of there.