Fertiberia travel to Torrelavega with an injury-hit squad

Toni Malla: As long as there is life, we are capable of picking up points

Fertiberia Balonmano Puerto Sagunto begin the second half of the season with an injury-hit squad. The red and whites travel to Torrelavega hoping to pick up a point or two on the return of the Plenitude Asobal League after the winter break. They are aware of how difficult the match will be against a team battling to stay at the top of the table. In addition, Toni Malla will be unable to call on Guillem Correro, Jaume Pujol, Javier Olivares, Pau Ferre and Álvaro del Valle through injury; the latter two have already undergone successful operations. Toni Malla's side ended their pre-season with two defeats in friendlies against Ángel Ximénez Puente Genil and Barça, but secured a morale-boosting victory against Huesca. 

Red-and-white coach Toni Malla says of the winter period that ‘it would have been magnificent had it not been for the three latest injuries we have suffered. The team's work has been very good; in the matches we have played, the boys have been excellent. As last year, we have maintained the workload, but injuries come when you are at your worst in the table. We have not done anything differently from previous seasons. Things happen as they happen and you have to know how to deal with them’.

Regarding the opponents they will face, Malla says: ’This weekend we face a very difficult opponent. They are also in good form after finishing the first half of the season very well, and they performed very well in the tournaments they played during the winter. They will be very difficult prey’.

Despite the difficult period the team is going through, Malla is proud of his players' work: ’Rather than devising a tactical strategy, I think we need to restore people's confidence mentally after these injuries. It is clear that we are going through a difficult and complicated period for many reasons, including the club's institutional situation, which affects us all. Nevertheless, the team is working very well day to day. As a coach, when I see the situation becoming complicated and, despite that, the team continues to give its all, I feel very proud’.

‘We are going to Torrelavega to recover from these obstacles that have arisen in recent months, and I think the team will do very well because during these three seasons that I have been coach, we have always overcome difficulties. I think we will overcome them again because they have a very good work ethic. Despite everything, we will play well and compete, and you never know. In the end, this is sport; I think that as long as there is life, we are capable of picking up points’, concludes the red-and-white boss. 

Translation produced using artificial intelligence.