Coquelin: "We have to work hard to be ready for the end of the season"

Whilst a return to training on Saturday morning was not quite under the same circumstances as the previous workout with the team, the Valencia CF players took a step towards the resumption of LaLiga action with their individual sessions.

Midfielder Francis Coquelin spoke to VCF Media about the new environment to prepare the players for Spanish football's comeback trail, and showed that he is as motivated as ever for the task at hand.

"It's a really tough time for every country, and we have to take care of ourselves and respect all of the phases that we need to follow. It's very dangerous, but in the end we will overcome it together," commented the Frenchman on Saturday.

"We've all been at home for two months, and so being able to train is very good news. It will be nice to see my teammates again, albeit from a distance."

"It's different to normal. Training at home, I've been doing a lot of running on the treadmill. I've had the chance to spend a lot of time with my family, which is more difficult when we are training and playing games. The upside has been being able to enjoy time with my wife and my children. Now we have to work hard to be ready for the end of the season.

"We'll be treating it like preseason. We've done a lot of work at home, a lot of running, and now we're entering a different stage, on the pitch, to pick up the pace. The league is very demanding, so we need to prepare in the best way possible. We'll be starting today with a little bit of everything; working with the ball, running... We're going to keep upping the pace."

Valencia CF are taking the utmost precautions for the situation, and the demanding schedule that awaits -as Coquelin explains.

"We hope that gradually we can get together. But we need to respect all of the phases, because it's very important. We're going to have a lot of games within a short period, so in order to avoid injuries it's important be prepared.  We have time, but so do other teams. We need to be ready and start very well. Eleven games is a lot, but it's also going to go by quickly. So it's important to start very strongly, and get into a position to win games and be up at the top for the end of the season."

"We know what is at stake. We are seventh in LaLiga and obviously we want to be high up the table, in the Champions League spots. We have the opportunity to prepare well during this month, in order to start strongly in the opening games."