Espanyol coach Mauricio Pochettino is confident of the club's support going into their game with Valencia.

The Argentinian was on the verge of leaving Los Pericos after four years in charge following last weekend's 3-0 defeat at home to Osasuna, which came amid a general uncertainty at the club with elections to appoint a new president.

However, Pochettino was convinced to stay on by chief executive Joan Collet and despite admitting the current situation at the club is far from ideal, he insisted off-field issues were no excuse for recent results.

He told AS: "The game will not decide anyone's future. However, as managers we depend on results and we are always at threat of the trigger, we have to accept that.

"It is not the best ground to cement the footballing basics but this can't serve as an excuse for not obtaining better results.

"It is important the team recovers good sensations because if we get the three points it would serve as an important injection of morale. It is a difficult game against a team with good footballers but we are aware of that."