Osasuna vs Getafe preview - Mendilibar wants strong mentality

Osasuna manager Jose Luis Mendilibar has called on his players to be mentally strong enough to fight off any physical tiredness from playing twice in four days.

Los Rojillos salvaged a point at Real Zaragoza on Saturday thanks to Roversio Rodrigues' 88th-minute header and could go into fourth spot for 24 hours at least with a win over Getafe, but Mendilibar is playing down any suggestions of qualifying for next season's Champions League.

He told his club's website: "Perhaps there will be physical tiredness and therefore the head comes more into play. If you are strong in the head, with positive thoughts, you feel less tired.

"We need to play strongly from the start and not think about the fact that we are going to tire, we are a side that to win has to run a lot and, moreover, we aren't used to playing Saturday and then Tuesday.

"Every time we talk about the Champions we play the fool. We are only focusing on the three points, Getafe are a solid team that are difficult to beat and who don't need to do much to great things to make it a difficult match for us."

Mendilibar has though been boosted by the return to fitness of Dejan Lekic just three weeks after he broke a bone in his forearm, but Sergio Fernandez has been rested so Roversio will continue at centre-back alongside Miguel Flaqo who returns from suspension.

Getafe boss Luis Garcia is worried about Osasuna's threat from set-pieces and is expecting a typically intense fixture in Pamplona.

He told Marca: "The match against Osasuna will be very intense, when they play at home the fans are very tight to the pitch and they play very direct. Osasuna have also scored more goals than anyone else in the league from dead-balls according to a statistic I have seen, with 12 or 13, so they are dangerous from free-kicks and corners.

"I like the work Mendilibar's work. He is putting together a team that plays with great intensity and rhythm and they fight to the end of every game. The other day when Zaragoza went 1-0 up, they had the capacity to lift themselves and in the next play they equalised without playing a great game."

Cata Diaz returns from suspension for the visitors, but Pedro Leon is out with a new injury problem so Dani Guiza may be recalled to lead the line.