Elche left-back Domingo Cisma believes it is imperative the newly-promoted team are 100 per cent ready for the season’s opener.
Fran Escriba’s men face a tricky test away to Rayo Vallecano for their first game back in La Primera after an absence of 24 years, and the experienced Cisma [pictured, left], signed from Atletico Madrid on a free transfer this summer, is under no illusions about the task at hand.
“The feeling is that we’ve not done badly in the games played so far, but the intention is that we must be at 100 per cent for the start of La Liga.
“For the next game the team will be fresher and have a clearer idea of where it is going,” the 31-year-old told a Press conference, in reference to Saturday’s friendly with Real Murcia.
Cisma is no stranger to the top flight, having played there for both Almeria and Racing Santander, and he maintains the key to a good campaign will be how the defence copes with the better class of strikers on offer compared to La Segunda.
“The leap in quality in La Primera is great and we’ll be coming across opponents who will be much stronger, so perhaps the job of the defence will be more important.
“A team like us needs to build from the back and we’re working on the type of movement and way of playing that the boss wants, not just the defenders but the whole team, and I think we are on track.”
From what he has seen so far, Cisma believes Elche will be able to live with a number of sides this season.
“Technically and tactically we are similar to a lot of sides we’ll be meeting next term, but there are still certain things we need to work on and polish.
“Eventually we are going to come across seven or eight teams with similar characteristics to ourselves and those details could prove vital,” he explained.
