On the eve of the match against RCD Mallorca to be held tomorrow at the Benito Villamarín Stadium, Juan Merino held a press conference at midday. The Real Betis Balompié manager analysed the importance of the King's Cup loss against UD Almería, whilst at the same time warning of the importance of getting three points in the League to get closer to the team's goal of being in a position for direct promotion. To do so, the green-and-whites will have to beat a rival that Juan Merino words of admiration.

Not many fans at the King's Cup match: “That is the result of a number of situations, but mainly the late kick-off. The fans give greater importance to their team being in a position of promotion in the league. The Betis fans are very supportive, no matter if the team is in the first or second division, there are at least 30,000 supporters at the stadium. It is only natural that a match in these circumstances there is a difference".

Response from the fans: “We have prepared for this league match as if it were a final. There are a lot of matches left, we are only a third of the way in to a long league. We have to treat every match like this, as if it were the last. That is what I transmit to the players in every training session. We hope that tomorrow there will be plenty of supporters as usual. We are professionals and we have to do the best we can so that the fans can enjoy the spectacle their team offers them. If we could choose, we would rather win every home match in front of our fans. I am sure it is going to be an important match; I am convinced we are going to win. We want to give our fans that satisfaction. We have to be grateful for the support they always have for the team”.

Talk with the team: “I always try to ensure they understand the sensations they have to give off, we have to give 100% of ourselves. For example there are days, even with the most talented players, things can go better or worse. There are days in which the technical things don't gel, and other days when they do. The spectators should always see the drive, impetus and intensity. We should always have that in every match”.

The first half against UD Almería: “I talked to them about that in the changing room. I told them that I didn't like what I saw at all, never mind the fact that there were 11 who hadn't played the week before. The team I fielded was competitive. UD Almería didn't field their usual players, so the two line-ups in direct comparison should not have been so unbalanced. The difference that there was in the first half is that the team was not prepared in terms of mindset and predisposition. We have spoken about that and worked on it too. Decisions have to be made, at the end of the day it is the players who are fielded, or not”.

Absentees in the match list: “I base my decision on information gained from all the matches and all the training sessions. I select those I consider to be the best at any given moment”.

Jorge Molina: “Came on from the bench and brought something to the team. I maybe that with other coaches he brought things to the team, but when I started with the team, I started from scratch and I have to decide. Jorge Molina put in an excellent performance and was lucky in terms of goals on Friday. He deserves to be in the match list”.

Rubén Castro: “When you are dealing with a great professional like him, with everything he is doing for the Club, everything we do for him is good. The Club is organising a kind of event for him before the match for everything he has done. We welcome it with the greatest of respect”.

RCD Mallorca: “The are proving to be strong in away matches, although they have been having some problems in their home matches recently. In away matches they generally play with a 4-4-2 or a 4-2-3-1 formation. Asensio, Scepovic and Arana are players to keep an eye on. Offensively, they are a team that create quite a few scoring opportunities, and they have players who can score. They are a solid team in which all 10 field players work hard. They depend a lot on stealing possession in the opponents half to attack quickly. We have to be very careful at the beginning in the knowledge that they have a lot of potential up front. We also have our strong points, so we will try to find the week points that every team has”.

A King's Cup match on Friday and a league match on Monday: “It's a bit strange, they are unusaul days for both competitions. We have to adapt to that like professionals. That's the way it is and you have to take it in your stride”.