Deportivo La Coruna - Granada CF preview - Resino ready for "difficult" test

Posted Saturday, January 24, 2015 by PA

New Granada coach Abel Resino knows he has a daunting challenge ahead of him but has pledged to "fight until the final second" to help the club avoid relegation.

Resino guided Granada to safety in 2012 and also helped Celta Vigo avoid the drop in 2013 but on his return to the Andalusian city he has inherited a team lying at the foot of the Primera Division and without a win since September.

He gave an optimistic press conference ahead of his first game back in charge of the club, a visit to fellow strugglers Deportivo La Coruna.

"I've come here to Granada because this is a difficult challenge but we are going to fight until the final second to achieve our objective. I'm an optimist, if I wasn't, I wouldn't have come here," said Resino, quoted in Marca.

"The team are in good spirits and my first impressions are good, we have been working on all aspects this week, from training, to video analysis and private discussions with players.

"They have had to adapt to the methods of their new coach and to a new way of working. They have taken on the things I want pretty well but now they must prove themselves tomorrow at Riazor."

"They are happy and looking forward to going to Coruna for our first game, which we are treating like the first day of the season - we have tried to erase all the negativity from before."

Depor are outside the relegation zone but sit just three points above Granada, and Resino is expecting "a tense game, because we are direct rivals in the league table."

Victor Fernandez's side made a strong start to 2015 but were brought back down to earth by last week's 4-0 thrashing at the hands of Barcelona.

"Deportivo have important players, they have been growing as a team as the season has gone on and they are in good form at the moment," said Resino on the Galicians.

"There's a lot of expectation for the game because we'll get to see if we have improved because of the things we have changed, but most of all I want to see us compete," he added.

"What I have tried to do is make my players aware that they have to compete with maximum energy and play with the maximum intensity possible. That's the only way you can win games in the Primera Division."

Resino will be without Jeison Murillo, Eddy Silvestre, Hector Yuste, Dani Larsson and Riki for his first game back in charge, while Depor's only absentee is injured striker Helder Postiga.