Gary Neville admits Valencia fans have been made to suffer

Valencia coach Gary Neville has admitted his team have made the supporters suffer since he took charge.

Los Che have not won any of the seven Primera Division matches to have followed the England coach's appointment and supporters at the Mestalla have taken to jeering the team's below-par performances in that competition.

They have saved their best football for the Copa del Rey and wrapped up an aggregate win over Las Palmas in midweek to set up a semi-final encounter with Barcelona.

Neville will be aiming to finally break his La Liga duck this weekend against lowly Sporting Gijon, but the visitors will be high on confidence after a 5-1 win over Real Sociedad in their last outing.

The former Manchester United defender, whose side won 1-0 in the Canary Islands to wrap up a 2-1 overall success on Thursday night, said: "I thought we made it damned hard for ourselves - we like to make the Valencia fans suffer a little bit.

"But I'm happy for the fans that we have given them a semi-final. They deserve this moment. They have been patient with the club and with me now for five or six weeks and we need to give them joy.

"My players gave absolutely everything again tonight. It was an important moment on Sunday, that goal against Deportivo and the momentum continued tonight."

Sporting visit the Mestalla in good spirits after that impressive win over Real Sociedad ended a run of four straight defeats.

Their coach Abelardo Fernandez told his club's official website: "I expect to face a team with bite.

"Valencia have good players in all areas of the pitch and I hope this is not the game where they finally explode. We will have to go to Valencia and be brave."

Cameroonian midfielder Daniel Ndi is struggling with a knee problem and will be assessed in Sporting's final training session.

Sporting strengthened their squad this week with the signing of Bosnia international Ognjen Vranjes.

The 26-year-old moved to El Molinon and Abelardo believes he will be ready to go straight into the squad.

He has signed for Sporting until the end of the season with an option of a further year, having most recently played for Turkish side Gaziantepspor.