At midday today, with just over 48 hours to go before the start of the league and the match against CE Sabadell, Julio Velázquez spoke to the press in the first press conference of the season. The Betis coach, happy with the condition of his team ahead of Sunday's match, expressed his appreciation of the work put in during the summer preparation period.

Velázquez also told the press that Sergio Rodríguez will form a permanent part of the heliopolitan squad for the full 2014-2015 season, and therefore he will stay with the green-and-whites to fight for the all-important promotion.

Finally, the Liga will start this weekend: “It has been a rather complicated situation. They are situations which you can't allow to get you down, you just have to stay a bit removed from the issue. We have at no stage modified our plan. We left the organisation of the start of the week open, but since receiving confirmation that the Liga will start on the original date, we have stuck to the plan we had in place anyway. We have approached the week completely as normal”.

How has the possible suspension of the first fixture affected the training sessions?: “In football, as with anything, it is normal that we respect the professionals' decisions. It is best if the situations are as coherent as possible. Beyond that, to waste more time and effort is absurd. We have to control the organisation throughout the week, so that the team arrives at the Sabadell match in an optimum emotional state with a sense of harmony amongst the players. Lo demás hay otras personas que tienen esas competencias. It's important to know the situation and be coherent, but beyond that all we can do is adapt to the various scenarios that arise”.

Assessment of the pre-season: “I am very happy with the team from a human perspective. The team is keen for the championship to get going. The squad is not yet 100% complete and we are still working on our game plan. We are on great form to compete, I am very positive about how the team is looking and our readiness for the first match”.

Upcoming reinforcements: “There are some situations where there is permanent interaction between the coach and the technical secretary, and with different parts of the Board of Directors, but some questions should remain internal”.

With only two days to go before the start of the Liga, how do you see the squad?: “I am happy with the squad with respect to their commitment and attitude. It's a terrific group and we are on the right track. We are not yet 100% complete. It is normal that the squad isn't finalised until the last day of the transfer window. I am happy with the group, I am really excited about the players that we have got. The players that were with us last year have a tremendous desire to reverse the situation and change what happened last season. The best indication of the enthusiasm is the number of club members, nothing else can better demonstrate the desire to forget the past and invest all our energy into the upcoming season. The newcomers have rapidly adopted the Real Betis philosohpy. The harmony between the existing players and the new arrivals will be a positive buzz. That rich human element will have a direct effect on our game”.

Have you spoken to N’Diaye this morning?: “I have already spoken wtih him. I am waiting for the final decision. There are just a few details that are yet to be resolved. If nothing out of the ordinary happens, we anticipate that he will be joining our squad. I greeted him this morning, everything is being finalised now”.

Possible signing of N’Diaye: “When the deal is finalised, I will be able to tell you more, but I think that he is a player who can play in several different positions down the centre, whether centre-half or centre. As a centre-half he can really move up and down the pitch, he is balanced and works hard. He covers a lot of ground. As a fullback, he has a great ability to move out when the team is retreating. He is perfectly suited to both positions. He is going to provide backup and consistence. On a personal level, the references from his team-mates and the management have been marvellous. In my conversations with him, he has come across as having a good predisposition. If we reach 100% agreement, he will be a great reinforcement”.

Do you think the team is prepared mentally for the season?: “I see the game of football as a whole package. The team is ready, you can't be prepared tactically, but in a poor emotional state. We are in optimum condition with regard to both aspects, in condition to compete and without any sort of problem.”.

Xavi Torres: “He is returning from an excessively long period of injury. Frankly, I am satisfied with how he has come on during the pre-season. In the last two weeks we have been controlling the amount of exercises involving stopping and starting. He has been suffering some discomfort which was not directly caused by the injury, but by the type of footwear and different factors which we have to take into consideration. He is in condition to be in the line-up and play from the start if I think that is best. His levels of adaptation are optimum.

Lolo Reyes: “Obviously he is not 100%. There are good reasons for the processes we follow. Normally he would play a pre-season of 5 or 6 weeks at the group level. He's really only had two weeks at the group level. It has not been the optimum situation. Due to the circumstances, he is ready to compete without any problems. He is feeling fine, so he will be available 100%. If we think that he should play from the start, that shouldn't be a problem. If he had accumulated more weeks with the group, that would have been much better, but in Huelva he finished up feeling fine. The recuperation periods depend on the individual footballer. Due to his build, he shouldn't have too much trouble returning to his optimum condition rapidly.

Given the possible arrival of N’Diaye, will Perquis no longer be playing midfield?: “It will depend upon the mix of players that we have from midfield to the forwards; we will be aiming for consistency up the centre of the team. Naturally, we have not been able to count on Xavi Torres or Lolo Reyes. We have had to take great care with Xavi's workloads. Within those limits and thanks to his nature, he has been able to compete in several matches. If N'Diaye is ultimately signed, he will be another player that we didn't have during the pre-season. Putting Perquis in midfield was not just automatic, but rather because we had to balance the pre-season workloads. We had to be fair to Xavi. We have strived to achieve a proportional workload using players from the reserves and with Perquis so that Xavi did not have an overly heavy workload in the matches. To be honest, I am optimistic and extremely happy”.

If N’Diaye ends up signing with Betis, will he play against Sabadell?: “Assuming that he signs, there are various factors beyond the coach's control, such as the official transfer certificate. If everything is resolved 100%, it will be an option that we will evaluate at the last minute”.