Sporting Gijon vs Mallorca preview - De las Cuevas back for struggling Sporting

Posted Wednesday, March 21, 2012 by PA

Sporting Gijon midfielder Miguel de las Cuevas is hoping to make his return from injury in their crucial encounter with Real Mallorca at El Molinon on Wednesday night.

De las Cuevas had to watch on from the sidelines as Sporting slumped to a 2-1 defeat at Granada last weekend, a result which left them second from bottom.

He told AS, "I am available for this game. We are facing a good team that have just drawn with Valencia and beaten Atletico Madrid, but we are confident we can win.

"We are in a difficult situation and we need a victory, but when you are in the relegation zone it always requires a bit more effort to take something out of the upcoming games."

Oscar Trejo is the player most likely to give way for De las Cuevas, with Adrian Colunga and Formose Mendy set to continue to support David Barral from the wide areas.

Mallorca will be missing three key players in Ivan Ramis, Chori Castro and Michael Pereira through suspension.

Ramis was sent off against Atletico for handling the ball on the goal-line, but his side held on with 10-men to record an important victory.

But he insisted they cannot get complacent despite their comfortable position in mid-table.

He told the club's website: "They are very important points for our position in the table, more than ever now there are only 11 games left.

"We play Sporting, Racing Santander and Granada in our next five games and we can't afford to lose. The most important game is the next one. If we can pick up anything that will be positive and if we can win ever better because then the objective is even closer.

"I expect Sporting will fight to the death because they need the points. We can't let our minds wander, we need to be 100% concentrated. The target is to keep a clean sheet because we will create chances."

Emilio Nsue and Alejandro Alfaro should return in place of Castro and Pereira, while at the back Pau Cendros will start at right-back with Chico moving into the centre of defence to cover Ramis' absence.