Rubi: ‘We’re playing against a great team on a difficult pitch to win’
The UD Almeria head coach argues ‘we want to keep up our defensive resilience as we did in Tenerife, but we also need to take the game to them’
UD Almería head coach Rubi chatted to the press ahead of Sunday's fixture in Huesca and did not hesitate to highlight ‘we’re going to play against a great team on a difficult pitch to win,’ although as he underlined, the Rojiblancos are travelling with the firm intention of ‘bagging the three points.’ ‘We want to keep up our defensive resilience as we did in Tenerife, but we also need to take the game to them,’ the Catalan told the media.
The UD Almeria first team gaffer returns to Huesca where he lived ‘a magical season’ with promotion to the top flight as the SD Huesca head coach. ‘I’d like to express my deep sense of gratitude for the treatment I was given there,’ he thanked the Oscenses sincerely.
Both UD Almería and SD Huesca have a lot at stake in this meeting since the opponents, as Rubi indicated, ‘are going to take advantage of their last chances of entering the play-offs,’ which will create ‘a rocking atmosphere at El Alcoraz Stadium.’ The Aragoneses are among those who have conceded the least amount of goals in the championship and they’ve managed to keep a clean sheet in 16 games,’ which only goes to show how well coached and organised they are. They’ve got quality and experience, players with a distinguished footballing career who know how to handle the different situations that arise.’
The Vilassa de Mar native urges his team to stay on the right track because although ‘anyone would like to play badly and win,’ he considers that his side has shown great skills away to CD Tenerife and against Girona FC at home, where they deserved much more.
Big games keep on coming and this is a crucial stage of the championship so ‘if we obtain good results, we’ll reach the end with a lot of confidence and optimism.’ We must not forget that after playing SD Huesca, UD Almería will take on SD Ponferradina and Real Valladolid CF.
Joan Francesc Ferrer 'Rubi' considers that the pressure that the team is under is actually a motivation for the final prize. He is adamant about keeping up their defensive resilience with an improvement when it comes down to creating big chances and being effective in front of the goal since, as he concluded, ‘You may be lucky when playing bingo or in the casino; what can fire us to Primera Division is our hard work and performances on the field. It isn’t a question of good luck.’