Eibar vs Getafe preview - Borja cautious over Eibar ambition

Posted Friday, January 09, 2015 by PA

Veteran midfielder Borja Fernandez insists surprise package Eibar still have plenty of work to do if they are to secure an unlikely finish in the top half of the Primera Division.

The promoted club took a while to find their feet in La Liga but find themselves riding high in eighth place at the start of 2015 following a run of three wins from five games.

Borja, who turns 34 next Wednesday, has just signed a six-month contract at Ipurua, immediately after winning the Indian Super League with Atletico de Kolkata.

Ahead of Saturday's meeting with 14th-placed Getafe - his former club - he told Marca: "I watched Eibar's first seven or eight games from India. I saw how well the team was doing then, and I believe we can continue to do well.

"The results have been normally good when the team has understood the game plan."

A haul of 23 points from their first 17 games in the top flight means Eibar are well placed to achieve survival but Borja has urged caution.

"You can't let yourself believe that anything like that has been done yet," the Galician added. "You have to understand what it is that has led the team to their current position. There is still some way to go."

Getafe breezed past Eibar in the last 32 of this season's Copa del Rey but midfielder Juan Rodriguez has warned his team-mates the 5-1 aggregate victory counts for nothing when it comes to Saturday's league encounter.

"We cannot be complacent because every game is different," Rodriguez told his club's official website. "We have already played against Eibar in the cup but that was a different match at a different time, Saturday will be totally different."

Quique Flores takes charge of El Geta for the first time having replaced China-bound Cosmin Contra this week.

Rodriguez added: "We have had very little training with him, only three sessions, so what we have to do is adapt to his ideas as quickly as possible."