Villarreal vs Granada CF preview - Molina calls for improvement

Villarreal coach Jose Francisco Molina believes his team must cash in on an improved run of form when they meet fellow relegation rivals Granada on Sunday.

After a forgettable campaign so far, Villarreal lifted themselves out of the drop zone last week with their first away league success at Sevilla.

The 2-1 win has coincided with a six-game unbeaten run at home that has given the Yellow Submarine reason to believe they will escape relegation.

Molina knows, though, that there is a lot of work to do before their drop fears are eased and has labelled the visit of Granada as crucial to their bid to stay up.

"All matches are equally important no matter who you play," he told the club's website.

"This match against Granada can confirm our good form and help us move away from the relegation zone.

"We have to give everything to make sure we get the right result.

"These three points are very important to us. We will go flat out to win this game."

Villarreal were given a midweek boost after Joan Oriol was cleared to play after the caution he picked up at Sevilla was rescinded on appeal.

The defender would have otherwise been suspended leaving Molina with a gap to fill in his back four.

"That was good news because (Jose) Catala is still injured," said Molina, who also welcomes back Spain international Carlos Marchena.

"We are more relaxed now."

Granada head to El Madrigal in a buoyant mood having won their two games since Abel Resino took charge, including a 2-1 derby success over Malaga last weekend.

Defender Guilherme Siqueira is hoping to make it a hat-trick of wins to increase the three-point gap they have on the bottom three.

"The key is to eliminate their threat in midfield because in that area they have players with a lot of quality and they have been doing very well in the past couple of weeks," he told Efe.

"With a victory there we can continue to move up the table and extend our advantage over a direct rival."