Real Sociedad manager Jagoba Arrasate insists his side will be ready for Aberdeen in the Europa League on Thursday despite their lack of preparation.
The La Liga club have appeared lethargic during the their pre-season matches after losing to Ajax and drawing with Feyenoord.
They ended their tour of the Netherlands with a 1-0 win against NEC Nijmegen on Saturday and Arrasate has ordered extra training sessions for this week after being unimpressed with his side’s performances.
The fact the Dons will be playing their fifth competitive game of the season while this will be Sociedad’s first is also worrying the Sociedad coach, but he is confident his players will prove their quality on Thursday.
Arrasate said: “Against Ajax we went with two different formations, an issue we fixed for the match against Feyenoord. Against Nijmegen, even though we were poor we showed our experience to get the victory. It is normal and when we play Aberdeen the mental approach will change. We are playing in Anoeta stadium in front of our own people and the players will give us what we want.
“I’ve watched Aberdeen and they are a good team but we believe we can win the game. We have to get through this round against a team who, in theory, are below us but they are sharper than we are.
“They have already played four official matches but if we can approach the level that we are capable of we can get the victory.”
Arrasate has lost the services of one of his key players from last season after Atletico Madrid reached an agreement on a £25million transfer for France international midfielder Antoine Griezmann.
Griezmann, who impressed for France in the World Cup, passed a medical in Madrid yesterday and will complete his move today. The Real manager has moved quickly to strengthen his squad after signing Queens Park Rangers midfielder Esteban Granero in a £2.5million deal yesterday.
The Madrid-born player, who spent last season on loan at Real from QPR, has joined on a four-year deal but will be ineligible to face the Dons.
Teenager Scott Wright has signed a three-year extension to keep him at Pittodire until the summer of 2017.
The 16-year-old from Balmedie made his first team debut earlier this month against Daugava Riga at Pittodrie.