Castellón travel to Melilla for their first away game of the season

⚔️​ UD Melilla📍Estadio Municipal Alvarez Claro⏰​ 03.09.2023, 20:30 (CET)

After a busy last 48 hours of the transfer window and the arrival of no fewer than three new players in that span (Mamadou Traoré, Daijiro Chirino, and Julio Gracia), Castellón gets back to business on the pitch against recently promoted Melilla on the African continent. Yesterday, the Albinegres also saw the exit of club veteran Carles Salvador, who moves to Atlético Saguntino on loan. With the transfer window a thing of the past, the squad seems largely set and ready to get into the rhythm of the season.

The squad is at almost full strength, albeit with some notable absences. Raúl Sánchez misses out after receiving a heavy blow to the head in last week’s opener against Málaga, while new signing Mamadou Traoré is also unavailable due to paperwork issues. De Leon is still recovering from the injury that also kept him out last week’s game. However, Daijiro Chirino should be in the squad, and De Miguel should be ready to start in Raúl Sánchez’s absence. DeMi was the difference-maker last week, coming on to score the winning goal against Málaga.

Melilla drew their opening game 2-2 against Real Madrid Castilla in what was a lively encounter. They did not shy away from the challenge, although they looked uncertain dealing with set pieces, which is something Castellón could look to exploit. Castilla even thought they had won it, but their header from the corner was ruled out.

In the pre-match press conference, Castellón manager Dick Schreuder said he didn’t expect Melilla to play defensively at home, having watched their opener in Madrid.

Despite the relatively long journey for the Albinegres to Melilla, fans are optimistic after last week’s success against Málaga, and a win is most certainly the expectation.