Pellegrini: «Jesús Rodríguez has a very good future but one thing is to arrive and another to maintain it»

«We are going to make the list of those mentioned now. None of the injured players who are fit to play are included. Pablo Fornals is quite advanced, Johnny Cardoso something else is missing. Isco is progressing and you will see the medical services. Bellerín and Marc Roca have similar but different injuries. They both have an ankle, neither is training with the group yet. “Both of them have a long time left to reappear,” said the Chilean, who added that “being alive in the two current competitions for me the situation would be approved, being eliminated it would be disastrous. We cannot rely on trying to field a team that can take the game forward. We are deciding, we are waiting until the last minute. If we don’t give one hundred percent we won’t be able to win the game.”

Pellegrini was questioned about the situation of Ricardo Rodriguez and he appreciated that “neither he nor anyone is satisfied with his performance to this day. He arrived late, he didn’t do preseason. I still have a lot of confidence in him. I could give you 200 names of players who take time to adapt. “Because of his experience and hierarchy, he will contribute a lot to us on the team.”

And he also put the emphasis on the young man Jesus Rodriguez: «He is a player who has been training with us for quite some time. He has a very good future. He has had knee complications and also a suspension with the reserve team that prevented him from being with us. What happens in the future depends only on his performance. It can contribute a lot to us. It’s one thing to arrive and another to stay. I hope I have that ability to adapt.”

Meanwhile, he gave his opinion on the physical situation of Altimiranow widely used by the absences of Marc Roca, William Carvalho and Johnny Cardoso in midfield. «Now he has more minutes in the body and still has some contractures. We are going to see how he recovers and we are talking to the medical staff not only about Altimira. Once we finish December, going to the best with eight points more or less, an assessment is made, for now we are focused on beating Sant Andreu.

Finally, Pellegrini spoke of the delay in the return of the team from San Sebastián, which had to return at night when it was scheduled for Monday morning. «There was a problem on the plane. These are things that happen, we had to stay there. Playing nine games in 28 days is a significant burden. The more you rest the better, but it will not be an excuse if we are eliminated that we had to spend more hours in Vitoria,” he stated.