C.D. Leganés' coach, Asier Garitano, appeared this Saturday at the press conference prior to the match against S.D. Ponferradina on Monday (19:00), corresponding to the thirty-fifth round of LaLiga SmartBank.
The coach confirmed the absence of Lasure, Palencia, Bustinza and Ignasi Miquel due to injury for the match, and assessed how the team is coming: "The illusion was to be with the best, but we have not been able to be with Mallorca and Espanyol. Mentally you have to focus for this journey, which is going to be difficult because teams with good dynamics are coming from below. We are going to have to have a good end to the season to be able to play in the play-offs and be promoted to the First Division".
"Ponferradina is a very balanced team that will make things very difficult for us".
The player from Bergara sees Ponferradina as "a very balanced team, with very good players who have talent and hunger, experience with important players like Erik Morán, Yuri.... They are very well worked and a very competitive team that will make things very difficult for us. It is a very, very important match. If we win, we would have a good advantage over Ponferradina, but we have to give a lot of importance to the match to be closer to our objective".
Asier was asked about the good moment that players like Miguel de la Fuente are going through: "He played a good game against Espanyol and he has to continue in that line, knowing that the competition is great. He is maintaining a good line and we hope he continues to compete as he is doing". He also referred to Juan Muñoz, about whom he said that "he is doing really well in the matches and on a day-to-day basis, and he is growing more".
"We are happy with how things are going, let's see if we finish LaLiga well and take this team to be able to fight for promotion."
Garitano believes that a new eight-game league is starting: "We must always try to improve as a team, enhance the good things we were doing. The games are now very close and the small details are very important. Everything is going to be much more difficult and that's what we're working on, to see if we can be more solid and balanced. If mentally you believe in what you are doing, the physical will take care of itself. We have to be in a good frame of mind, with the possibility of being promoted again to the First Division with Leganés, which is great, and we have to give it value".
Finally, the Blue and Whites' coach hopes to continue with the good line of results at Butarque: "At home we have been solvent, but now we are going to a different league in the last eight matches against rivals who have a lot at stake. Every game is going to be complicated and we need to be balanced. We are happy with the way things are going, let's see if we finish LaLiga well and lead this team to fight for promotion", he concluded.
