At midday the midfielder from Alicante appeared before members of the press at the Official Real Betis Balompié Store in the Plaza Nueva in Seville. Xavi Torres gave his opinion on the draw in the last league match against Real Zaragoza, a match that saw his return to a competition match after recovering from his injury. The midfielder spoke about the forthcoming match against Deportivo Alavés and the good run the team is having in recent matches.

Back on the pitch: “Honestly, I felt better than I thought I would. In the second half I felt a bit more tired because I was not on the same level as my teammates. The pain has gone completely, so I am much more relaxed about that now”.

The team's performance: “In recent matches the team has been improving step by step. That is important. It was a shame that they tied the match on Sunday. In the first half we could have made it 0-2 easily before half time. They put the pressure on and managed to level the match. We are prepared to continue improving and correcting mistakes. Hopefully what happened on Sunday will make us better and help to achieve our objective in June”.

You have mentioned improvement in recent matches, Is that positive evolution in the team really visible?: “I think so. If you compare the first few matches with these last ones, the team has improved a lot. We played a good first half in Zaragoza and they hardly even got close to our goal. When we lost possession we soon got it back, and we had real chances to have scored more goals. In the second half they put the pressure on, they were playing in front of a home crowd and things did not work out for us like they had in the first half. All you need to do is see the points we are getting now to realise that there has been an improvement. That is the dynamic that we want. At the end of the match we were all tired, that means we gave everything we had in the match”.

Talks with Julio Velázquez: “He has spoken to me just like he does with the rest of the team. He told me what he wants me to do in the midfield, just like he would with Lolo Reyes, N’Diaye and other teammates who play in other positions he requests other things. I am just another player in the team. I had been looking forward to being able to give something back to the team and help my teammates”.

What happens to the team in the second half?: “I think it is more of a coincidence. Pamplona made a comeback and the same in Zaragoza. But in the home match we played a really good second half against FC Barcelona B. I think it is just a coincidence, we are playing against teams that put the pressure on at home. We have to watch videos of the matches to correct the mistakes. We still have time to keep improving”.

Do you understand the criticism of the defence?: “There is always more criticism of a team when you are not getting the three points. It is not that the defence or even the goalie is to blame, it's the whole team, from the forwards to those of us who are on the bench or in the stands. We are all a team. It doesn't annoy me, but it does worry me that all the blame is put on the defence. We are all to blame. When we win, we all do well and when we lose, we are all to blame”.

Has the team set as an objective to be in a position for direct promotion before the end of the year?: “At yesterdays training session we were all a bit down because we had let two points slip through our fingers. We agreed to make a final effort before the end of the year so that we can be in the top section of the table. We have made a good start, but we would like to be higher up. We are going to make every effort to see if we can be in first or second place before the end of the year”.