Rayo Vallecano vs Espanyol preview - Rayo on the up - Jemez

Posted Sunday, November 24, 2013 by PA

Rayo Vallecano coach Paco Jemez believes his team are now starting to perfect their style of play, as well as making it effective.

The Madrid side are still in the relegation zone but the coach believes they are starting to turn a corner after they produced an excellent performance against Real Madrid despite losing 3-2, and beating Celta Vigo 2-0 away in their last league game.

If they can follow up that result with a win over Espanyol in the Estadio de Vallecas on Sunday they will climb out of the relegation zone, and Jemez believes they are in a good position to take all three points.

"Little by little we are finding a way to channel the way we play into getting results and this means we are preparing for the game from a strong position," he told a press conference.

Despite the team's precarious position in the league, Jemez has more lofty ambitions for his team than simply avoiding the drop, and hopes the Espanyol match can be the start of a winning run.

He said: "The league is going to be the same as it is every year, with many teams of the same quality. There are still many points to play for and I think my team is getting better and better. Our aim is to keep looking forward and that's why we need to win two or three games in a row."

Javier Aguirre's side are 12th in the Primera Division table but have only taken four points from their last eight matches, suffering a 3-1 defeat to Sevilla in their last match, which was the first time the Andalusians had won away from home in over a year.

Jemez admitted the Catalans had gone off the boil, but warned of their quality.

"Espanyol started strongly but now they are struggling to get results out of games. They are a difficult team to play, with a lot of quality, but we need to focus on our game and that's what we should do because we want to get out of the relegation zone as soon as possible."

With the exception of suspended midfielder Victor Sanchez, Aguirre has a full squad available to him for the game.

The same cannot be said for Jemez, who has a total of seven absentees for the game. Alejandro Galvez misses the match due to suspension and as a result 21-year-old centre-back Mario Gomez has been called up to the squad from the club's B team, who play in Spain's fourth tier.