Marcelino: “We have to make sure we don’t lose at home”

Athletic Club Marcelino García Toral stressed the importance of picking up points at San Mamés, insisting the Lions’ home form will have a massive impact on their LaLiga Santander position come the end of the season.

The Lions have only lost twice this season, but both defeats came at The Cathedral, something which the manager has urged his players to put right on Friday when they face Granada CF in Bilbao (21:00 CET).

“Where we are at the end of the season will depend on what we do at San Mamés,” Marcelino said at his pre-match press conference in Lezama. “For that we need to have attitude and do a lot more than we have done, because so far the numbers are lower than they should be.

“However, we are optimistic and we need the help of our fans. We have to make sure we don’t lose at home. You can draw if you’re not at the right level to win, but you can’t lose. San Mames is our home and it must be our fortress.”

The Lions have notched three draws and a loss in their last four fixtures. Marcelino is hopeful they will get back to winning ways sooner rather than later, but stressed there are no easy matches in LaLiga Santander.

He said: “This season all teams are finding it difficult to win. Each team has its own strengths and when an opponent goes ahead thats an added difficulty.

“Even so, the data shows we are competitive. With the individual advantages we have, we’re working hard to improve. But we want do this without putting extra pressure on the players. We must make the players feel happy and brave.”

With a third of the campaign gone, Marcelino is now well aware of strenghts and weaknesses of the team, saying: “From the start until now we have had two mistakes: the home games against Rayo and Cádiz.

“It’s clear we’re absolutely solid in defence, and we’re working hard to improve in attack. We have to accept our mistakes and analyse them so they don’t become a major problem. For us, the next match is always the most important one, regardless of what happened in the previous one. If we don’t have that attitude, we’ll have serious problems.”

Granada CF are currently 17th in the LaLiga standings, with one win in their last five matches. Marcelino believes their recent results do not truly reflect how well they can play.

“Their tactical approach causes opponents a lot of trouble, but I think their results have been a bit inconsistent and that’s why they’re facing us from the bottom half of the table,” he added.

“At the moment a few of their regular starters are out injured. We have to go into the match full of confidence that we can get another home win. We’ll have to be at our best, be skillful in attack, get into their box often, be clinical and be on alert when we lose possession. That’s the task at hand.”