Preview : Atletico Madrid vs Xerez

Having just faced Barcelona's all-star attack in midweek, Xerez's defence have little chance for respite as they prepare to take on an Atletico Madrid forward line that, according to midfielder Carlos Calvo, is one of the best in the game.

Promoted Xerez remained rooted to the foot of the Primera Division after losing 2-0 at home to Barca on Wednesday in a fixture brought forward due to the Catalan side's commitments in the FIFA Club World Cup.

Jose Angel Ziganda's side made it difficult for the champions and the result was still in doubt until Barca substitute Zlatan Ibrahimovic lobbed home his side's second in injury-time.

Xerez's defence coped reasonably well with Barca's much-vaunted strikeforce, but Calvo believes they will need to be just as good tomorrow when Atletico duo Diego Forlan and Sergio Aguero come to town.

Forlan won the European Golden Boot for the second time last season after netting 32 goals in La Liga, while he and highly-rated Argentinian Aguero have struck 10 times between them in the league already this season.

"They have two of the best strikers in the world, Aguero and Forlan,'' said Calvo. "We have to make sure they have a bad game and give the best of ourselves.''

Xerez's defeat to Barca has left them with just seven points and four goals from 13 games, and they are already three points adrift of Atletico in 17th.

Atletico climbed out of the relegation zone with a 4-0 mauling of Espanyol last weekend and Calvo concedes the capital club will be in high spirits for the trip south.

He added: "They are going to arrive full of confidence. They haven't played at the level they can do and the place they are in now is not the one they will be in at the end of the season.

"Saturday's game is very important. We need to try and pick up six points before the winter break.''

Aside from the Barca defeat, Xerez's preparations for the Atletico clash were further disrupted on Thursday when president Carlos de Osma resigned.

Atletico finally gave their fans something to shout about following a dismal start to the season with the win over Espanyol.

That was only the second league triumph of a campaign which has so far been utterly forgettable both domestically and in Europe, where Atletico have already bid farewell to the Champions League.

However, the Rojiblancos now have a great chance to put further distance between themselves and the relegation zone, and defender Pablo Ibanez hopes they can take advantage.

"The present is Xerez,'' he said. "There's no need to think beyond that. Hopefully we can continue with our positive run.

"The squad's mental state is good. Now we have to follow the same line of work that we showed last Sunday. The side from Andalusia is a good one, but we have to go for the three points. Of course, we always have to respect the opponent.''

Atletico coach Quique Sanchez Flores has had fitness concerns about Jose Antonio Reyes, Florent Sinama-Pongolle and Sergio Asenjo, but all three look on course to make Saturday's game.