Xavi puts injuries down to 'demanding schedule'

After getting three points against Osasuna, three more from Saturday's game with Alavés "are what we need to keep climbing up the table" said FC Barcelona coach Xavi Hernandez on Friday.

Alavés

Alavés will be a difficult game against an intense, aggressive team" he continued. "They have a lot of personality, you can see that Luis Garcia is having an a hand in that. And they have hit their best form lately."

Injuries

"It's a very demanding fixture list" he said when asked about the extraordinary number of injuries that his players are suffering. "We aren't able to rest enough between games. But the staff are doing all they can to help the players, we need to what we can to prevent injuries. Sometimes we have phoned the Federation to see if we can get an extra day's rest. It's difficult."

Vitor Roque

With Ferran Torres out, this is time for Vitor Roque to start showing what he can do. "He has improved a lot" said Xavi on a player who scored his first goal on Wednesday. "He will be important for us in this game and the next ones to come."