Mehdi Nafti: "They put us in a tight spot, but we have the squad to rotate and keep the cup dream alive"

C.D. Leganés manager, Mehdi Nafti, stopped by the press room after the Pepineros played against Xerez Deportivo F.C. away at the Chapín for their first round of Copa de S.M. El Rey football, which finished in favour of the Blanquiazules at 1-2.

The coach expressed his satisfaction at securing the win over a difficult opponent: "I didn't see much of a gap between the divisions today. They put us in a tight spot, we endured and I can say I had imagined this kind of match. 

"We will be prepared to face whoever we must"

Nafti believes his players were aware of the loss of rhythm: "We cycled in more players with fewer miuntes and they need the rhythm and systems in place. Avilés had a total playing time of an hour, as well as a long break from competing, similar to Sabin, Naim, the back line... It's normal to cost you, but with our focus on the future these minutes now will come good for us. We have a squad to rotate players and to keep the cup dream alive, which allows me to continue giving everyone some game times".

Laslty, the Franco-Tunisian coach spoke on the upcoming Girona trip and putting Friday's cup draw to the side: "We'll recover, keep Girona in our thoughts for Monday and be prepared to face whoever we must", he concluded.