Chumi: ‘The last point won in Las Palmas is good if we collect 3 at a time from now on’

‘The last point won in Las Palmas is good, but we have to collect 3 at a time from now on,’ stressed UD Almeria centre-back Chumi as he caught up with the club's official station UDA Radio. The Galician player pointed out ‘we don’t celebrate draws,’ although as he acknowledged ‘the last rivals are one of the best teams in the second tier. Playing at the Gran Canaria Stadium is absolutely complicated and on top of that, there were many absentees.’

Chumi reflected ‘we’re having very bad luck over the last weeks due to injuries and Covid-19, and we’re hoping to be able to recover team-mates and improve our fitness after so many setbacks. This break is gonna be good for us.’ Meanwhile, he underlined ‘we’re a large squad with enough quality to be highly competitive and face the consequences at all times as it’s been demonstrated, although you can tell that there are many absentees up front.’

Despite so many issues, UD Almería are still leading the pack 3 points ahead of runners-up Real Valladolid  CF and third-placed SD Eibar with one game in hand. On this subject, Chumi indicated ‘we’re calm. It depends on us to remain in this place. Anyone would like to be in our position. Personally, I don't look at the table much at this stage of the season, but it gives you a lot of confidence to be first.’

The 22-year-old Rojiblanco considered that the league meeting with CD Lugo on Monday, 19th January is very important in order to have played the same number of games as the rest of the teams. He believes that it is vital to achieve all three points and opening the gap at the top of the table with the most direct rivals in the away match in Galicia,’ where it’s always nice to play and see yourself surrounded by family and great friends.’