Deportivo La Coruña 2 - 3 Espanyol

Pochettino: The only way is up

Updated: September 18, 2009, 4:56 PM UK

Espanyol coach Mauricio Pochettino admits things can only get better for his side ahead of their Primera Division trip to Deportivo La Coruna.

The Barcelona outfit are pointless, goalless and bottom of the league after two rounds of the championship.

And to compound their misery, the Catalans will be missing three of their most important players on Saturday.

Captain Ivan De La Pena, star striker Raul Tamudo and summer signing Shunsuke Nakamura all miss out through injury as Pochettino's side look to record their first win of the campaign and move off the foot of the table.

Espanyol spent much of last season in the relegation zone before climbing to mid-table on the back of an impressive string of results under Pochettino.

Hopes were high ahead of this campaign, but defeats to Athletic Bilbao and Real Madrid in the opening two matches have left the Catalans looking up at the rest of the league once more.

Pochettino, however, is not panicking.

"It's incidental to be bottom after the second round of matches,'' he said.

"I would be worried if we were still there after the 10th round, but it is still early.

"We have very clear ideas and we are confident - that's how the good results will arrive and our work has to bear fruit.''

But Pochettino accepts his players will be up against a quality Depor team.

"They are a great team; they lost at the Bernabeu (against Real Madrid on the opening weekend), but they then beat Malaga and they are in a good situation, better than the one we are in, at least,'' he said.

Striker Ben Sahar, a summer signing from Chelsea, reckons the goals will come for Espanyol.

"We haven't scored in our two games, but once we do score, the goals will keep coming,'' he said.

With Tamudo out injured, Sahar looks set to start up front alongside Ivan Alonso, with Spain forward Luis Garcia in a deeper role.

Deportivo, meanwhile, are up in ninth place after last weekend's narrow victory at home to Malaga.

The Galicians struggled to break down their rivals in that match, but sealed the points thanks to Filipe Luis' stunning late strike.

Miguel Angel Lotina's side will now look to add another victory in their second home match.

Unlike his counterpart, Lotina has a full-strength squad to choose from for the meeting with Espanyol.

And centre-back Ze Castro believes the Galician outfit will enjoy a successful season.

"Nobody should think we are going to fight for the title; we simply aspire to do things well in each match and we'll see where that takes us,'' he said.

The defender was pleased with his side's performance last weekend and hopes they can produce a repeat against Espanyol.

"We had possession, concentration and created scoring chances, so let's hope we can play in the same way against Espanyol,'' he said.