Toché: “We are excited and hungry”

Real Oviedo striker, José Verdú Nicolás, “Toché”, appeared in the Press Room at El Requexón this morning.

After completing the third training session of the week, Toché admitted that, “it’s a short week and it is different. We have less time to rest, but we are excited and hungry. We want to get a home win to keep our good run going.”

Real Oviedo face their next league fixture on Friday, with Valladolid travelling to the Carlos Tartiere. Talking about this match and the importance of being at home again, Toché believes that, “it’s nice to have another home game, since it’s a major strength for us. We have to go into the game with optimism. The nice part of the season is just starting, and we have to give 100%.”

With respect to how the team goes into this stage of the season, the forward highlighted that, “the nice part of the year is arriving; it’s the final push. We are fighting for a playoff place and we need to keep going like this. The results will come, and we deserve to be up there. The team is in good form. We all need to push and try to show the fans that we want to be up there. When you look at the table and see that we are in those positions then it’s lovely. The team wants to finish in one of those places, and so we want to make sure we stay in there during this final stage.”

Asked about the next opponent, Real Valladolid, Toché stated that, “they are another team that is trying to get into the playoff places. If we win then it will be a show of intent.” In addition, with respect to the change seen in the team during the past couple of matches, the attacker said that, “it’s true that results weren’t going our way, but we still had the same hunger. Now we are only looking to win and stay in one of the playoff positions.”

Regarding the differences between this season and the previous one, Toché argued that, “you can’t compare the two, everything is different. We are better this year than in the previous two. We have grown. We have to put the seal on a fine year, and the best is still to come.”

Finally, with respect to his feelings on an individual level and his hidden talent for providing assists, having set up goals in each of the last two matches, the Carbayón captain said that, “my job is to help the team, score goals and assist. It’s true that I prefer to score goals than set them up but feeling that you’ve done something for the team is comforting. I have more teammates around me in this formation and there are more players in the box. I have to create more chances because that’s what any forward lives off,” he concluded.