Rubi: 'We’re on automatic promotion points and we must keep it that way'
The UD Almería head coach calls for another strong performance from his side against Cultural y Deportiva Leonesa this Monday and warns of the visitors’ impressive away form
'We’re on automatic promotion points and we must keep it that way,' said UD Almería head coach Rubi as he underlined the importance of Monday’s home game against Cultural y Deportiva Leonesa, which comes 10 days after the team’s last outing in Albacete.
The Catalan stressed that the objective is to build on the team’s strengths and continue their positive run at home: 'We approach the match looking to reinforce what we do well. We want people to see a great UD Almería, solid at home with good results and good football.'
Rubi insisted that his players must set a very high standard from the start to make things as difficult as possible for the opposition. 'We have the utmost respect for them,' he said, before highlighting the visitors’ strong performances away from home.
'We’re not facing the team in 20th place, but the one that would be 11th based on their away record,' he added.
Cultural have proven their ability on the road this season, with victories in Santander against the league table-toppers and in Eibar, the strongest home side in the league.
Speaking further about the opponents, Rubi stressed: 'They weren’t doing badly at all. They played a great match in Leganés and the win slipped away from them at the end. Now they’ve changed head coach in search of a reaction and Rubén de la Barrera is a coach who, given time, will have them playing good football. He brings variety and different options to his teams.'
UD Almería now begin a run of March fixtures against sides currently in the lower half of the table: Cultural y Deportiva Leonesa, Real Zaragoza, SD Huesca and Real Sociedad 'B'. Despite that, Rubi was clear about the approach: 'We have to take it game by game. None of them will be easy, quite the opposite. We need to be cautious. These teams are even more dangerous now because they still have something to play for.'
On the squad front, the Rojiblancos welcome back André Horta, with only Dzôdić unavailable. 'It’s great news to have almost the entire squad available at such an important stage of the season. We’ll play again 10 days after the last match, but then we go from Monday to Saturday and in April we’ll have 3 games in a week. We need to be ready,' the Vilassar de Mar native concluded.