Javier Aguirre says he expects Real Valladolid to be at their best ahead of our clash on Sunday afternoon.
With our hosts sitting just above the drop zone, Aguirre knows better than most how our opponents are likely to shape up given his personal relationship with their new manager.
"I played against Paulo Pezzolano in Mexico,” he told journalists in his pre-match press conference. “We know each other. He is a brave coach. His teams are usually brave and with high pressure, offensive. I expect Valladolid to play very well with the ball. We have analyzed the match we played against them and they were very good in midfield. Monchu, Roque and Aguado are players with very good feet. I think they are a team that in their field and with a new coach will want to play a good game. We expect a hard-fought match.
“It is a match of six points because many things are at stake. There are many ingredients to think that Mallorca must go out to win. It will not be easy. It will be a very intense match.”
We will be travelling to Real Valladolid slightly lighter than usual with Iddrisu Baba, Jose Copete and Gio González suspended and Augustinsson, Nastasić and Dani Rodríguez unavailable due to injury.
"We have six players who will not be for this match. Three due to suspension and three due to injury. We have Martin in cotton wool because we don't have central defenders. So we will still play with four. We are also analysing the possibility of Dennis making his debut. We will bring three young players from the reserve team. Gayà has been with us more than once and Llabrés and Marcos Fernández are also coming."
