Fran Escriba is confident Villarreal can turn around a faltering start to his reign as head coach and overcome Monaco in the Champions League play-offs.

Escriba was appointed six days before last week's 2-1 home defeat in the first leg after the LaLiga club parted company with Marcelino – the man who guided them to last season's Europa League semi-finals.

An injury-hit squad could only draw 1-1 at Granada in their domestic opener on Saturday, but Escriba called for calm ahead of Tuesday's return leg against their Ligue 1 opponents.

"We believe it is essential not to go crazy, thinking you have to score early or you have to score two goals [early]," he said.

"There are 90 minutes left to score two goals. We have various plans to deal with this game. 

"We cannot make mistakes. If we are able to minimise errors and optimise our performance, we have will have plenty of opportunity to qualify.

"This is a group with experienced players and so is easier to deal with games like this. Players who have already played Champions or Europa League and know how to deal with it."