Gaizka Garitano has insisted that despite Leganes making a strong start to the season, Deportivo must defeat them at the Riazor.
The Deportivo coach believes that even though Leganes went down 5-1 at home to Barcelona at the weekend, they have made an 'excellent' start to their first ever campaign in the top flight but Depor would be favourites for their clash on Thursday night.
"They are a team and a club who right now are in very good spirits following an amazing promotion story and a great start in this league," Garitano explained before the match.
"For us they are a direct rival, they have started very well and will be a tough game for any team this season.
"We are playing at home so we need to win, we want to win and all our focus is on getting three vital points."
The Depor coach went on to criticise the scheduling of the league, as his side played three matches in seven days – Monday's clash with Alaves followed by taking on Leganes on Thursday and a trip to Atletico Madrid on Sunday.
"It is not ideal and makes things tougher for us with fixtures being so compressed, but we will aim to have our players recovered and win as many points as possible."
