Oltra forced to rotate Deportivo squad ahead of visit to Atlético

Jose Luis Oltra will have to rotate his squad for the forthcoming trip to the Vicente Calderon for a number of reasons.

• By Jason Pettigrove    Follow @jasonpettigrove

The Depor coach goes into the match against in form Atlético with six of his players missing. With only 11 points from 14 La Liga matches played so far, losing so many players is a headache he could well do without.

Of the six players absent, four are through injury, one is suspended, and in the case of Pizzi, the Portuguese has a clause in his contract that he does not play in the fixture against his former employers.

Central defenders Marchena and Zé Castro are still training outside of the group, with only an outside possibility that they can overcome their respective injuries in time for the Atlético match.

Both were injured on November 18 in the match against Levante, Marchena walking off the pitch in the seventh minute with a hamstring strain in his right leg and Zé Castro subbed on fourteen minutes after sustaining a grade I-II injury in the soleus muscle of the left leg.

Aythami Artiles picked up his fifth yellow card of the season last weekend against Betis and will therefore sit out the match at the Calderon. With that scenario in defence, Oltra will have to revert to the Portuguese Miranda and Insua from his squad. The experience of both in La Liga is minimal as Miranda has only played two games, against Athletic and Betis, and Insua only a few minutes in San Mames against Athletic Bilbao.

Oltra will have to change the attack because of the transfer agreement between the respective clubs for Pizzi. However, Oltra will find his options further limited in this area of the pitch with both Saul Fernandez and Nelson Oliveira still receovering from their respective injuries.