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La Liga

Recreativo Huelva coach Manolo Zambrano is grateful his side get a chance to recover from their weekend mauling.

They welcome Athletic Bilbao to the Nuevo Colombino on Thursday night.

Zambrano is eyeing the Athletic game and Sunday's trip to Andalusian rivals Almeria as the ideal chance for his players to get last Saturday's 4-0 defeat to Atletico Madrid out of their system.

Although Atletico coach Javier Aguirre felt the scoreline was not necessarily a fair reflection of the match, only one team have inflicted a heavier defeat on Recre since they won promotion to the top flight in 2006 - Real Mallorca blitzing them 7-1 in last season's humiliating trip to the Balearic Islands.

"The positive thing is that we have two games ahead of us this week, against Athletic and Almeria, to overcome the feelings that we have now," said Zambrano, who nevertheless feels the Atletico defeat needs to be put into context.

"There is no need to go overboard, we need to recognise the ability of our opponents," he insisted.

"We did not do well, but you also have to think about the team we were facing - you could say that they are a step ahead in that they started pre-season early and have played in three Champions League matches already, and you notice this.

"We need to show a better attitude, intensity and approach to keep our place in this division."

Recre striker Adrian Colunga, a summer arrival from Las Palmas, pulled no punches in his summary of the defeat.

"We gave a very bad image of ourselves, committed mistakes in every part of the pitch and throughout the match. That cannot be allowed to happen again," he said.

The Atletico loss came after Recre had picked up three points from their opening two matches against Real Betis and Espanyol, leaving the club 14th in the standings.

Opponents Athletic are one point better off in 10th spot after the Basque side recorded their first win of the season on Sunday with a 2-0 home triumph over Real Valladolid.

That was the 100th top flight victory of Athletic coach Joaquin Caparros' coaching career, and the former Recre boss was delighted with his side's performance.

"We were rock-solid defensively and from there the team gained confidence and created a lot of goalscoring opportunities," said the 52-year-old Caparros, who managed Recre from 1996-99 when they were in the lower divisions before moving onto clubs such as Villarreal, Sevilla and Deportivo La Coruna.

"From that performance we need to continue growing. The fans have to be happy."

Caparros has made his one change to the squad that beat Valladolid, bringing former Spain international Pablo Orbaiz back in and leaving out teenage midfielder Ander Iturraspe, who will play for Bilbao Athletic instead.

For Recre, Zambrano will be without defender Iago Bouzon for the next couple of games through injury, so Pablo Oliveira is set to step in at right-back.