Osasuna vs Almeria preview - Cejudo keen for kickstart
Posted Thursday, November 07, 2013 by PA
Alvaro Cejudo has called on his Osasuna team-mates to give their faltering season a kickstart when they host Almeria on Friday night.
With the season now a third of the way through, Osasuna appear to be on course for another relegation scrap come May.
Osasuna, who are managed by former Almeria coach Javi Gracia, finished 16th last term, and they have shown little sign of improvement this year as they sit just one point above the relegation zone.
Friday's visit of Almeria, who are second from bottom, gives the Navarran side a perfect opportunity to start moving away from danger, however.
"Winning would give us a little breathing space," the Osasuna winger told a press conference.
"If we don't win this next game, we'll be back in the same situation.
"We can't let these opportunities escape us and on Friday, we have a good opportunity.
"The distances between teams is minimal and we can't afford to slip back downwards."
Preparation for the game at Osasuna's El Sadar stadium has hardly been ideal.
Gracia's men were condemned to a humiliating 5-0 defeat against Real Sociedad last weekend.
Their cause was not helped by the sending off of Jordan Loties, who will therefore miss Friday's game through suspension, however, and Cejudo believes the scoreline was not a fair reflection on the game.
"The result was exaggerated because of the sending-off," Cejudo added.
"Aside from set-pieces, from which we conceded three goals, the team was fine and more or less, doing the work that the manager had asked of us.
"This result shouldn't change either our confidence, or our way of playing."
Midfielder Miguel de las Cuevas is also suspended for Friday's game.
Almeria looked certain for an immediate return to the second division after failing to win their first 10 matches, but there is now hope among Francisco Rodriguez's men following back-to-back wins over Real Valladolid and Valencia.
Almeria goalkeeper Esteban says his team must not forget they are still a long way from safety, though.
"Let's not fool ourselves, we won last week, but I still don't think we played well," he said.
"We are still second from bottom and we still have to get out of the bottom three.
"We have to keep going because the moment we dropped our levels of concentration and intensity, our rivals will take advantage."
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