Elche vs Villarreal preview - Elche boss braced for tough test
Posted Monday, November 04, 2013 by PA
Elche coach Fran Escriba admits his side will have their work cut out when they welcome Villarreal on Monday night.
The hosts go into the encounter against their Valencian neighbours on the back of a 2-2 draw at Athletic Bilbao.
The result followed their 1-0 loss to Granada and left the promoted outfit in 11th place in La Liga.
Elche take on a Villarreal team that too gained promotion to the top flight this summer and are flying high in the standings.
Villarreal stand fourth in the league, having won six and lost three of their 11 games so far.
"I'm not surprised by Villarreal's lofty position in the standings," Escriba said. "They have a very good team and they made good signings this summer.
"They also have the same coach and they maintain the same system of play as they had last year.
"This is an important game, but it's going to be difficult.
"We want to continue where we left off from Thursday's performance in Bilbao, try to maintain ourselves in a comfortable position in the standings and give our fans some joy."
Villarreal coach Marcelino Garcia Toral expects his players to bounce back from their 2-0 midweek defeat to Getafe that ended their unbeaten run at home.
"We didn't deserve to lose against Getafe," he said. "If any team deserved the win it was us.
"Now we must recover all our energy and focus on taking three points at Elche."
Villarreal have failed in their previous four attempts to win at the Manuel Martinez Valero stadium.
The Yellow Submarine suffered a further blow, with defender Chechu Dorado sustaining a groin injury against Getafe.
Dorado, who will be out for a month, has joined defender Bojan Jokic and midfielder Francisco Farinos on the sidelines.
Elche, meanwhile, will be bolstered by the return of defender Edu Albacar and striker Richmond Boakye from injury.
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