QUIQUE: "THE POINT IS NOT ENOUGH"

Quique Sánchez Flores rued the inability to capitalise on an excellent start after the spoils were shared at home against Osasuna: "We started well, in the first half we were better than the opposition and the goal settled us down as well as giving the confidence to put a few early mistakes behind us. We got the crowd into the game as well, but we were punished at the set piece, which isn't good enough. I understand that you can win a header, but the way we failed to challenge at the corner is a serious issue. We study in-depth analysis and the analysts spend many hours preparing the players for many different situations. We are not in a position to give anything away, and the moment you give a gift like that, it becomes incredibly difficult. The second half was very tough, the sending-off making it even worse, against a team that knows what they're about and is well organised. It was a battle."

In spite of a numerical disadvantage and momentum being against us, we were able to hold on to the draw when it seemed the visitors may leave with all three points: "Digging deep is the least we can ask of ourselves. Suffering is part of the game, and if you are in good shape, running and playing doesn't feel difficult, not even hard work. It's even enjoyable for the players. If you do things very badly for a very long time, it ultimately becomes hard work and you have to suffer. Right now it is pure suffering, and until we see significant change, we are not going to get out of this situation."

Now there is more than a week to prepare for the next match, at Rayo Vallecano: "It will help, but this was a match where we end up with one point but should have had three. For a long time in the match, we were on course for three points and deserved them. Towards the end, everything became chaotic. The way we conceded, the sending off? We had changed the system to a 4-4-2 and we were looking to regain the lead, but the red card put us further on the back foot."