Real Oviedo defender Héctor Verdés visited the press room this morning after the team's training at El Requexón.
When asked about the start of the competition, the Valencian assured that they are coming into the season "excited and looking forward to it. We have worked well, worked hard, following the coach’s demands". It's a season in which Verdés has earned the armband, being assigned as one of the four captains. He considers it “a great responsibility to be one of the captains, and an honour to be one in a club as big as this one".
Verdés also remarked that the new signings have settled in well, saying that "we all know each other now and we have had sufficient time to adapt to one another". When asked about the particularly hard-worked defence, the Valencian defender stated that "the coach is working with the defence a lot because he knows the division well, and experience has taught me that the teams which concede fewest goals throughout the season will be at the top at the end".
Physically, Héctor Verdés believes that "we are better now, the time has come to manage the workload to start the season as strongly as possible, and so we have toned down the physical exertion in the past few days".
The kick-off of the season against Rayo Vallecano will be "demanding, as all matches are. In this division, there isn't a single game all season where you show up thinking that you'll have an easy win. We have to focus on ourselves, of what we want to be, and from there we will grow. We won’t reach the first game in our best form, we are still in the process of improving".
Finally, and regarding his hopes for the coming season, Verdés recognised that "we all have a duty to excite the city, to see the Tartiere full, particularly those of us that have been here the longest. We will try to achieve it."
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