Pepe Mel highlighted in Riazor’s press room this morning that at tomorrow’s game against Valencia (6:30 pm, Bein Sports), “we have to compete well because we need points. It’s the first match after the break. We’re going to a difficult ground, with a historically great rival that are complicated to beat at their stadium”.

However, he did recall that this season Valencia “are in a situation similar to ours. We always go thinking we have to win the game”.

He acknowledged that losing the derby “hurt all of us, me first, because if there was a game I didn’t want to lose, it was against Celta. I know what derbies mean, I know you’re playing with the fans’ passion, with feelings... At the end of the day, we have the points we have. We achieved 3 in the previous game which we didn’t expect, they were fought for, they were worked, they were deserved. We lost against Celta unfairly, but the result is what it is”.

For this reason, Pepe Mel said “it’s time to start again and I’ve told them that April is historically fundamental in every league, but this year even more. Seven league matches are a lot in a month”.

He spoke about Fabril player Edu: “I don’t do things for show. If Edu is on the team sheet it’s because he has the same options to play as the rest. Edu is not going to play from the start. But depending on how the game goes, the qualities he has can do us good or bad for certain things. I don’t look at their ID cards to see if the player is 40 or 17. What’s important is what he can give”.