Vicente Moreno believes his side have to start turning good performances into points as our fight for survival continues with a trip to Athletic Club de Bilbao.
We head to the Nuevo San Mamés for the first time in our history looking to close the gap from safety to just three points, and while the boss says he’s not focusing on other results, recognises the importance of Saturday afternoon’s fixture.
"It’s not something that we have focused attention on, much less, but obviously, every week goes by and fewer points are left. It’s important to get three points otherwise our options are lower” he told journalists via a video press conference. “Let's start with that first game. I get the math, but we have to win our games, and the sooner we start, the better. Tomorrow is the most immediate match, at a difficult ground and in front of a very good team, which at home is strong. It’s the upcoming match and gives us an opportunity to get three points and is the match we hold as the one we can start with a first victory.
"Unfortunately, we haven't got the reward that many times I think players have deserved with their work. We have a chance again tomorrow. Let's see if we're able to continue along the same lines, but this time I'm thinking of the outcome. Where today you see it in one colour, tomorrow you see it as another. We have to try to give reasons for people to get back on board. I think there are still options for us and it's going to depend on us winning our games."
Despite suffering a frustrating 2-0 defeat to Real Madrid with less than 72 hours to then prepare for Los Leones, Moreno says he is proud of how his side have performed throughout challenging circumstances.
"Sometimes the line between winning or losing, between getting something or not, is very thin,” he continued. “Sometimes you see games where you don't need to do anything to win and sometimes you’re doing a lot and get nothing.
“"I think we usually create a lot, we do things, we always have chances and we’re always in the game. I think most of the time we end up with that feeling. The reality is that tomorrow we have an opportunity and we’ll try to improve on the winning side so that we can get a good result tomorrow.”
Saturday afternoon’s hosts have proven to be a difficult side to breakdown this year and remain in the fight for a Europa League spot, although our manager has stressed his side is up to the task.
“Athletic is not easy to score against. You have to have skill, you also have to have people who can help and who can make you better, and then you need players that are mentally strong. These guys give it their all, there are measurable or objective things to say this and then there are feelings. It's not easy when you're in a situation of adversity, where you're losing more than you're winning."
