Villarreal president Fernando Roig is confident his struggling team will overcome their current troubles with hard work.

The Yellow Submarine have endured a dismal start to La Liga and went down 2-1 at 10-man Lazio on Thursday night in Europa League Group G thanks to substitute Tommaso Rocchi's stoppage-time winner.

But Roig has attempted to ease the pressure on coach Ernesto Valverde by calling for calm.

"It's a very tough situation but you just have to grit your teeth and keep trying," he told club website www.villarrealcf.es.

"Against Lazio I think we saw a very good first half and a second half in which we had four or five chances which we did not take.

"In the second half, it seems Lazio played better with 10 men than with 11 and for that reason I believe the draw would have been a good result but the anxiety to win ended up harming us."

In the Primera Division, Villarreal have taken just three points from their opening seven games and replaced Xerez at the foot of the table on Sunday after losing 2-1 to the top-flight newcomers.

Ahead of second-bottom Malaga's visit to El Madrigal on Sunday, Roig added: "This bad situation is overcome only by working, there is no other way.

"We hope that the fans are behind the team as ever."