Pellegrino rues inconsistent Valencia

Valencia manager Mauricio Pellegrino said their defeat to city rivals Levante on Sunday sums up his spell in charge of the club.

Since taking over from Unai Emery in the off-season, Pellegrino has led Valencia to 14th in the table, with Obafemi Martins’ volley the difference in their 1-0 loss away at the Estadio Ciudad de Valencia.

The Argentine believes his side needs to work hard in the coming weeks if they are to turn their season around.

“I think we’ve had some ups and downs during the season. We’ve done some good things and bad, which we showed today,” he said.

“This match summed up our season: with ups and downs. At times we were OK but we also made mistakes. Some players need to work harder than others at the moment. We have to repeat all of our good moments in order to make the team reliable.”

Despite his side coming away with the three points, Levante defender Sergio Ballesteros claimed Valencia striker Roberto Soldado assaulted him.

The pair met physically on numerous occasions throughout the contest, and Ballesteros was left unimpressed by Soldado, and he claims the television footage can back up his claims.

“Soldado gave me a stamp and a kick with his heel and on television it will be clear,” he said in a post-match interview.

“It is two bits of nonsense but two assaults that I have had done to me.”