Valencia head coach Gary Neville has admitted that a top-four finish in La Liga this season might be out of reach following yesterday's 1-0 defeat at Villarreal.

Bruno Soriano's second-half free kick at El Madrigal means that Neville's side are yet to win in three league games since he took charge, and 11 points behind the Champions League places after 17 games of the season.

"It is a large distance to make up and I am concentrating on the next game," Reuters quotes Neville as saying. "The defeat makes it a lot more difficult but there are still points to be played for.

"I am desperately looking to pick up points but I am also looking for a good performance. There were good signs against Lyon and Eibar but today we saw something different as we had a good 45 minutes.

"This makes me feel better as we knew how to play in the second half and if we continue that way then it is possible to pick up the points we need. In the second half we played the best football since I arrived."

Valencia next face Neville's former Manchester United teammate Cristiano Ronaldo and Real Madrid on Sunday.