Sergio Pellicer, who returned to the Málaga CF dugout today at El Molinón - Enrique Castro 'Quini', appeared in the press room after his team scored a point at the Gijon ground.

Firstly, he recognised the “need to score the three points” but he appreciated certain aspects: “We started from scratch, I’ve seen very positive things, such as keeping a clean sheet in a match against a rival at their home ground.”

“We’ll keep insisting, we need the three points. We must make the most of this point and put on a strong performance at home. It’s not enough, we were lacking somewhat to obtain victory. We’ll focus on the positives and boost the team. We need to give the players the right tools to improve and move closer to victory,” he added.

When asked about the change to the starting-11, he responded: “I want everyone to be active, they all deserved to play. When there’s a change of coach there’s always intensity, desire and an eagerness to please. I want to send a message of unity to the squad, we need everyone.”

Sergio Pellicer stated that “this is not done with heart, this is done with good decisions and demanding the maximum from us.” He sent a message to the fans so that they’re with the team: “We can promise hard work and we ask them to accompany us for the remaining 17 games. They’re suffering, but we ask that they go to the stadium so we can move closer to giving them a little of what they give us. We have to forget about the standings as if not, we can’t reset. There are 17 matches left and lots of points at stake. Tomorrow we’ll be in training at Mareo to begin preparations for Friday's game with the highest demands, to give our people a little joy.”

Finally, he stressed the need for unity: “To the fans, I know it’s incredibly hard, but to all those who may now be angry I say that we need them. Without them we are weaker. We need everyone; we’re going to be united, stick together, fight with the feeling and the hard work that we’re going to do.”