Pablo Hernandez has rubbished claims that Valencia need David Villa to win, and has declared that they can beat Barcelona without him.

"He is a very important player for us but there are other players who can come in and do well," Pablo told Super Deporte.

Hernandez also added that he would decline to play in the match against Barcelona if he thought Los Che could not win without their talismanic hitman.

Hernandez did concede that although he believes Valencia can defeat Barca without Villa when the two Primera Liga giants clash on October 18, he would not rule out the striker returning for the game.

Villa sustained a hamstring injury in the 1-0 victory over Racing Santander in the most recent round of La Liga games and was ruled out for three week. The Spaniard is said to be ahead of schedule in his recovery.

"He is psychologically prepared to recover in time. He always has shorter recovery periods when he is injured although we will not know until the days leading up to the game because the decision is with him, the doctor and the coach," Pablo remarked.

The sight of Villa leading the frontline would surely give La Blaugrana fits as he is now the Primera Liga's top-scorer with six goals in just as many games.