Deportivo La Coruna vs Villarreal preview - Marcelino urges players to dig deep

Villarreal coach Marcelino has urged his side to grit their teeth and keep on fighting until the end of the season, despite the rotten luck they keep on enduring.

Goalkeeper Sergio Asenjo became the latest Villarreal player to have his season ended prematurely due to injury after tearing a cruciate knee ligament in the 1-0 defeat to Atletico Madrid on Wednesday.

He is among a long list of absentees for the trip to Deportivo La Coruna on Saturday, one that also contains Denis Cheryshev, Bruno Soriano, Mateo Musacchio, Giovani dos Santos and Ikechukwu Uche.

However, Marcelino urged his side to put their misfortune behind them as they look for their first win in nine matches.

He told a press conference: "It's obvious we are on a bad run, we keep on failing to win and we keep on picking up injuries, and I hope it ends soon.

"The truth is that this is a very difficult and troubled time for us. But we have to pick ourselves up, everything affects us, but we can't take excuses to our players as an excuse.

"There are worse situations than this in life, there are very tough moments and so we have to take the injuries for what they are, just a part of football. That's why the players that are still fit need to try and work and focus on what we're fighting for."

"What has happened to us is not normal, having all these serious injuries is not logical, but once that happens, you have to learn to value things and keep on fighting."

Despite their hapless run of results since last winning a match on 8 March, Villarreal still look set to finish sixth in the Primera Division as they have a six-point gap over Malaga, who occupy seventh.

However, Marcelino is keen for his side to put things right on the pitch.

"We are convinced that if we keep working as we have been we can beat anyone, and that's why we're going to Coruna to look for the win," he said.

"Despite the difficulties that we're facing, we're going to compete, we're going to fight to conserve what we have. And the way we're playing at the moment gives us reason to believe we can achieve the objective we've set out for ourselves."

Depor have just one absentee for the game, with Cezary Wilk still injured, but their situation remains bleak.

The Galicians are 18th in the table and have not won any of their last 12 matches, and the players incurred the wrath of their fans on Thursday, with around 50 supporters forcing their way into their training session to make their feelings heard following the 4-0 defeat at Elche.