After making it into the starting eleven for the first time this season (against Eibar on Sunday), Raúl Albentosa confessed in this morning’s press conference that “after not having competed since last season, I was eager. I was excited to play again”.

He said he felt “fine. You work every day so that when it’s your turn, you’re well and ready. There the typical words everyone says but that’s the way it is. You have to be ready for when it’s your turn and in that sense, I felt fine”.

He did admit however, that being out of the line-up for so long was “very difficult. To top it all, I haven’t been through this before. I’ve never been without playing for so long, especially since the start. It’s very difficult. But nothing comes free. Thanks to my family who support me, I trained with tremendous enthusiasm every day”.

Despite this, “I haven’t thought about anything else”, like leaving Deportivo, for example. “If you think about other things it clouds your thoughts when you’re training, when your playing. Obviously, every player wants to play. When the time comes, you make decisions. But in my daily life I have to think about the following match, the next training session, the moves I make in every session, in giving my all every time to be able to play”, he explained.

“You’re available for the Club, for the coach, and when he thinks it’s best, he values you and uses you”, he added. He admitted, “every player at every club is unhappy if they don’t get to play. Some are happier because they’re at home or for whatever reason. But I’m not laid-back. I want to play. I say this, and any other player from any other team or this team will say the same. If you don’t play at all, you’re not completely happy, which doesn’t mean that I’m not happy here, at all”.

He is convinced that “they can never say anything bad about me concerning work, or personally, because I’m up front”. For this reason, in a conversation he recently had with Pepe Mel (the coach), he said, “what we said stays between us”. “I spoke to the coach and we understood each other”, he commented.

According to Albentosa, making it back into the starting eleven, and in Eibar (his former team), “was double the motivation”. “To top it all, last year the only matches I was dropped were against Eibar. When I play there, it’s double the excitement. I’ve won both games I’ve played there".

Regarding the point made in Ipurua, he believes the draw “was the whole team’s merit. In the end, it’s not just four that defend and two that attack. We defended correctly. We can improve everything”.

Asked about Girona, Deportivo’s rival next Monday at the Estadio ABANCA-RIAZOR (9 pm, Gol), for the 9th fixture of LaLiga Santander, Albentosa said, “we know what they’re like because we watch them play every week. They have a team that play differently to rest of the teams in First Division. The good thing is that Stuani is suspended, and he is a good footballer. Another one will come in his place and could do well. We hope to win, because it’s a home game. We’re having a good streak with two home wins and an away draw. We have to carry on like this”.

Along these lines, he said it is important "to keep a clean sheet. It’s my way of viewing football. And then, everyone can try to attack, and finish some of the chances we have”.