Sevilla's dramatic loss of form is hard to comprehend, with the club going from being unbeaten in any format for six months - including pre-season games - to suffering four successive defeats in under a fortnight.

It is not as if they have had a daunting run of fixtures either, and few would have expected encounters against Malaga, Ponferradina, Real Valladolid and Standard Liege to cause such problems for Manolo Jimenez's side.

But they did, and Sevilla now welcome Andalusian neighbours Recreativo Huelva to the Estadio Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan in desperate need of a pick-me-up, although Prieto insists the situation is not as bad as some are making out.

"When you win, nobody takes into account if you play well or badly," he said.

"It seems worse from outside, but from inside the team we have analysed the situation and, if we beat Recreativo, we could go second or third in the table. And if we obtain another win in the UEFA Cup, with six points we will be on track, and in the Copa del Rey, we have to overturn the first leg.

"Yes we have suffered four successive defeats, but you have to be strong, get the fans onside on Sunday, which is an important match, and obtain the victory which would see this bad run of results come to an end."

He added: "Before we were not the best because we went six months without losing, and neither now are we in crisis. Many other teams would like to be in our situation."

If Sevilla are to return to winning ways against Recre then they will have to do it without striker Luis Fabiano, who is suspended.

The Brazil international was sent-off in last weekend's 3-2 defeat at Real Valladolid and although Sevilla appealed against a ban, they were unsuccessful.

The good news for Sevilla is that Fabiano's strike partner Frederic Kanoute could be available again after an injury lay-off, as well as Spain winger Diego Capel.

Colombian centre-back Aquivaldo Mosquera is another who could also be back in action soon as Sevilla's crippling injury list starts to clear, although Arouna Kone and Aldo Duscher remain sidelined.

Sevilla's poor recent run has attracted all the attention ahead of Sunday's match, but Recre's situation is much worse.

They have failed to win any of their last nine league and cup matches, and as a result they are currently in the bottom three of La Liga with just seven points.

To make matters worse, Lucas Alcaraz's side must now face Sevilla, Barcelona, Real Madrid and Villarreal in successive league games, although defender Nasief Morris insists they are not looking too far ahead.

"We are focusing only on Sevilla at the moment. We are not looking beyond that," he said.

Ersen Martin is able to play again after a ban, but Javier Camunas, Iago Bouzon and Jose Manuel Casado are all unavailable and Poli Fernandez is doubtful.