Copete sits out training ahead of Espanyol | OneFootball

José Copete sat out Wednesday’s group session as Valencia manage his workload before Espanyol at Mestalla on Saturday. According to Superdeporte, the plan is for the 26-year-old centre-back to be ready to start.

Only Copete and Cömert are currently available at centre-back, with Diakhaby sidelined and Tárrega out for the coming weeks. Cömert trained with the group on Wednesday after recent discomfort, while both he and Raba limited their involvement. The idea is for all three to be available this weekend.

The staff’s approach mirrors the last Copa del Rey tie, when Copete and Tárrega split the minutes, one half each. This was purely workload management.

January business is ongoing. Sadiq has already arrived and a couple more reinforcements are expected, with centre-back the clear priority.

Copete joined last summer from RCD Mallorca for four million euros and soon became a regular under Carlos Corberán. He only lost his place for three straight games after the 6-0 at FC Barcelona. He has logged more than 1,400 La Liga minutes across 17 matches and has four bookings, featuring in four of Valencia’s five clean sheets.

This season he has committed only 16 fouls, fewer than one per game. He also has 40 recoveries, 17 interceptions and has won around 60% of his duels.

Source: Superdeporte