MENDILIBAR: "WE HAVE TO GIVE OUR ALL TO KEEP ON BEING COMPETITIVE"

José Luis Mendilibar, manager of Sevilla FC, appeared before the press to preview the midweek match away to Elche. The Sevilla coach started by praising the state of the group: "I think they are doing well, despite feeling a bit burnt out having played so many games, which is natural. With that in mind, we have to keep up how we have been doing in the last few matches. We want to keep the players fit to keep on competing. Tomorrow we play and on Saturday we have another match. We will have to be at our best in these fixtures, and the best thing to do is continue what we have been doing until this stage, changing the starting team a bit each game.

On Óliver Torres and Joan Jordán, the Basque coach spoke about when we can expect to see them return to action: "Whilst there are matches, there is every chance they could return. Óliver has a little problem which we need to address. We will wait and see if he makes the journey with us, and speak with the medics. Joan is getting better, I don't know if he will get back to help us. To help us he has to get back to training with us. To get back playing he doesn't just need to get back to fitness, but show us he should be out on the pitch. When that happens, we will speak."

Mendilibar emphasised as well the importance of being competitive in each game from now until the end of the season: "We have to treat every game as we have done thus far. If we down our tools in a match or two, we will struggle to then turn things back on. If we don't bother with one game, it will be harder to give our all the next time. My job is to make sure the players don't switch off, and that they know every match we play is important. Tomorrow is Elche and we are going to try to win. The last few results have been good. 

"If we think that we will win just because they are bottom, that will not be the case"

He also praised the hard work of the academy players: "One will travel, they are training more to help us. With so many games, the players who play struggle to train. It's so that we don't just have eight or nine players at training. They are happy because they train as if they were just another player. If a player from the first team is unavailable, one of them steps in."

On Elche, he highlighted what they are doing despite having already been resigned to relegation: "They have been playing well for a long time, but they haven't been winning and so are going down. They lost to Getafe but could have won. The league standings doesn't show the points that each team ought to have based on their performance. If we think that we will win just because they are bottom, that will not be the case. They have good players and a good team. They show each week what they are doing well. When a team has been facing relegation for so long and they still compete, you have to praise them." 

"We musn't overload anyone with minutes"

He also mentioned the amount of time each player has to rest, focusing on recovery ahead of the final: "Almost all of them will play again in the two games we have left before the final, so that will come in handy. We mustn't overload anyone with minutes. We have to make sure they play just enough time so that they're ready for Wednesday's final. We have to compete, thinking about everything." His contract renewal was another of the aspects that the Sevilla coach addressed in the press conference: "No, we haven't talked about anything. We are focused on the three games we have left, three plus the final. So far I've signed for what I've signed for. That is where we are. At no point, neither myself nor the club have taken that step."

Lastly, he gave his support to Joan Jordan after what he experienced in the run-up to the derby: "I haven't talked about that. He's got enough on his plate, firstly because of what happened to him. These things are difficult to understand. In all social networks there are people who come in to say nasty things. Almost all social media sites are invented for the benefit of people and then they are used in a horrible way. We have to try to sort it out.