Igor Oca: “We're ready to celebrate another victory with our fans”

C.D. Leganés head coach Igor Oca appeared at a press conference on Friday ahead of the team’s match against Real Sociedad ‘B’ on Saturday (4:15 p.m.) at Estadio Ontime Butarque, as part of the 23rd matchday of LALIGA HYPERMOTION.

The coach offered the following assessment of the team’s current situation ahead of the match:

Dani Rodríguez: "I expect him to make an immediate contribution, which is saying a lot given his situation. But his attitude and professionalism suggest he’s in very good shape. Every player is different, and when you have firsthand information, you know what he’s doing in training and in matches. He’s in top condition; over the past two days, he’s been training morning and afternoon in addition to the team session. He’s available for whatever we decide. He’ll contribute, I imagine, from day one.”

Areas to strengthen: “We have to improve the performance of the players we have. We believe we’ll narrow that gap even further. Dani has joined us and we’re very happy; we need to create the right conditions so he can help. Until something else comes along, we’re 100% focused on what we have.”

Injuries: “We’ve improved every day in that regard. We’re almost at full strength; we still have Pulido, who’s getting better. Things are getting complicated in terms of the roster, but now there are even fewer excuses, if that’s possible.”

Real Sociedad ‘B’: “We’re focusing inward. We need to improve our performance, and the match against Real Sociedad is another opportunity to do so. It’s different from the first leg; there were several chances we didn’t capitalize on, and now we want to turn the tide in our favor. We’re ready for it and eager to share that with our fans.”

Castellón’s take: “I respect all opinions, but I don’t think we started off sluggishly. The opponent is coming off six straight home wins, and for long stretches we couldn’t handle their pressure. We want to be ready, but we have to step it up and work harder. We can take some positives from it—in the second half we turned things around and came close to tying the game—but now it’s a whole new match. We need to build on what we did well, fix what we didn’t like—which was quite a bit—and win at home.”

Duk: “Physically, he’s gifted and handles situations more quickly. He was close to making it to Castellón, but we didn’t want to take any risks. He’s trained the entire week and is available.”

State of mind: “We have to stay strong. It’s a reality check. The opponent is performing very well, and you can see we were far from being able to compete in the first 35 minutes. If we want to be at that level, we have to give more. We can’t look the other way.”

Direct rival: “We have to assess where we stand and figure out where they are. We have to be bold; we’re playing at home and we’ll fight to take the initiative. This gives us the chance to pull away from them and build a small cushion given the teams behind us. Hopefully, time will show that we can compete for bigger things, but right now our priority is to distance ourselves from those dangerous positions, and we have to accept that.”

Dani Rodríguez’s versatility: “You might prefer him in one position or another, but the reality is that he’s played as a second striker, a number 10, a number 8, on the wing… The management is working to strengthen the squad, but he gives you the flexibility to deploy him in various roles.”

Óscar Plano: “These are competitive situations. He came in with two very good performances, but we don’t do things by the book. We try to identify our strengths and realized that Róber, who was in good form, could contribute. The level of competition has risen; I’m happy to have to choose between one or the other.”