Rubi: 'If we travel, it’s because there will be guarantees to do so and to play'
The UD Almería head coach prepares his side for 'extremely difficult' match against direct rivals Cádiz CF
UD Almería head coach Joan Francesc Ferrer Sicilia, aka Rubi spoke to the press ahead of the upcoming match against Cádiz CF. He expressed his thoughts upon learning that the AD Ceuta FC vs Córdoba CF match had been suspended. 'We’ve seen the weather conditions and they’re the same here as they are there,' he said when asked about the situation. He then added: 'But we haven’t been informed of anything. So if we travel, it’s because there will be guarantees to do so and to play.' At that point, Rubi was unaware that the Cádiz authorities had advised against travelling, following a meeting with the State Security Forces. Unless there are last-minute warnings, the UD Almería travelling squad will fly to Jerez de la Frontera on a charter flight on Saturday morning, while the fans will travel by road directly to Cádiz city.
Historically, UD Almería have never won at the Nuevo Mirandilla stadium in professional competitions and neither has Rubi with any of the teams he has been in charge of when visiting the former Ramón de Carranza stadium. This fact was pointed out to him by the media and Rubi responded: 'Cádiz CF are a great team, a historically great club in Spanish football, with a very passionate fanbase, so it’s tough to win there, but we’ll try to break that statistic.' He also added: 'They’ve lost 3 games in a row and will want to get out of that situation. It’s going to be an extremely difficult match.'
However, UD Almería travel with the firm intention of securing all 3 points: 'If we manage to win, it'd be a big step forward before 2 back-to-back home matches, where we aim to create a positive run of results,' he emphasised.
The Catalan also expressed confidence in his team’s performance: 'I try to convey to my players that if we give our all, we’re the best. Although Racing Santander, Deportivo de La Coruña, UD Las Palmas… will all think the same about themselves,' he said. Nevertheless, he clarified: 'We want to go with the intention of pressuring the opponents, but it doesn’t always work out for various reasons, even though that’s our idea.'
The Vilassar de Mar native confirmed that Lopy and Nico Melamed will miss the Cádiz CF derby, while Chumi remains a doubt, having trained with the team throughout the week. Dzôdić is suspended and will not be available.