"Espanyol have been playing well since beating Valencia"

Sevilla manager Unai Emery attended to the press ahead of his side's Copa del Rey clash against Espanyol.

Injuries: "We're without Beto, Pareja, Tremoulinas and Banega. We're thinking about Thursday but we have one day less to prepare for the match at Mestalla on Sunday. Banega has had the flu and he has found it hard to get back into rhythm after the holidays and as he wasn't going to start in the cup it's better that he stayed behind in Seville working."

Goalkeepers: "The priority is Thursday's game. The goalkeeping position still has the same dynamic as last season, in the case that there are injuries. Sergio Rico has been playing because he is performing at a high level. Performance is the only indispensable aspect of the team and being in the starting 11 depends entirely on that. Sergio Rico will play tomorrow."

Aspas: "He showed on Tuesday go-karting that he is very good with cars. We wanted to do a group activity with adrenaline so he could get to know everybody better."

Chants: "Sevilla fans are above a one-off incident. There have always been and there always will be chants in stadiums, it is a very specific context and if I receive an insult inside a stadium I don't take it as one, I take it in context because I think the message is distinct to how it sounds."

Espanyol: "We have a lot of respect for Espanyol and it will be a difficult tie. I don't think we are favourites because of how they are playing and because of the memory of the previous round which can drive them on. Espanyol have been playing very well since they knocked Valencia out. We are under no illusions that it will be a difficult 180 minutes."

Fifth-best coach: "I don't take a lot of notice of statistics except those that are valid to me. For example the 39 points we have don't ensure that we will win against Espanyol. I have a strong sense of responsibility and if my name is doing the rounds then even more so."

Sevilla squad against Espanyol:

Keepers: Sergio Rico and Barbosa;

Defenders: Diogo Figueiras, Fernando Navarro, Carriço, Nico Pareja, Arribas, Kolodziejczak and Coke;

Midfielders: Krychowiak, Aleix Vidal, Iborra, Denis Suárez and Vitolo;

Forwards: Reyes, Deulofeu, Iago Aspas, Gameiro and Bacca.

from Últimas noticias | Diario AS http://ift.tt/1J8qswT

via IFTTT