Espanyol vs Almeria preview - Verza confident of survival

Almeria midfielder Verza will be urging his relegation-threatened side on from the sidelines as they seek to boost their Primera Division survival chances against Espanyol in Barcelona on Sunday.

Despite being ruled out with a left leg injury, Verza is confident his team-mates can end a run of four defeats in a row and make up the two-point gap to top-flight safety as the amount of games left run out.

Verza told his club's official website: "We can not think about the past because that will get us nowhere. We can only look at the match against Espanyol and nothing else.

"The reward for staying up can be great and if we go down we all lose. We have gone four games without a win but we are still just two points from salvation and we can get it in Barcelona."

Almeria coach Francisco Rodriguez is also without the suspended Marcos Tebar while midfielder Soriano and defender Hans Martinez both face late fitness tests, with bodies thin on the ground.

Mid-table Espanyol head into the game without a win in four having fallen 2-1 at Real Sociedad last week, and with midfielder Alex Fernandez publicly considering his future.

Fernandez said: "I have played less than I expected and it's not a comfortable situation for anyone. I want to stay here and I think I have the ability to earn a spot on this team, but it is down to other people to decide."