Athletic Club midfielder Unai Vencedor admitted he cannot wait to see San Mamés at maximum capacity once more, saying the idea of it brings him “great joy”.

The Lions will have to wait a further week to see The Cathedral in all its glory, as they take on Villarreal CF on Saturday October 23 at 21:00 CEST (tickets available via our website).

“Having our fans there is always a plus for us,” Vencedor said. “We’ve noticed it when they weren’t there because they help us, they push us and it’s a great joy to have them back.

“It would be a pleasure to have San Mamés back at 100% and to have them back to help us like before. I have no doubt that this will be the case.”

The 20-year-old has been a regular part of Marcelino’s team this season, starting seven of the eight matches played so far.

“I try to do my best, give my all and hope I get the chance to play and help the team as much as possible,” he added. “More than a responsibility, it’s a delight to be there whenever the coach needs me. Here, every child’s dream is to play for Athletic and I’m where I want to be.”

Due to the postponement of the fixture against Real Madrid, Athletic will have gone three weeks without playing by time the Yellows visit Bilbao, but Vencedor insisted the Lions are treating the match like any other.

“We’re preparing for the match against Villarreal as if it were any other game we have in front of us,” he said. “We’ve been lucky enough to have more time to prepare for it and we’re working towards it.”

Vencedor believes the team are improving and is particularly happy with how they are playing as a collective, saying: “Like every team, we want to win every game. We can’t settle for anything less. It’s not pressure, but we do want to win. We’re following the same approach as what Marcelino asked of us last year.

“To be intense and leave everything on the pitch. Defensively we’ve improved, that’s obvious, and offensively we create many more chances, we get into the box more and finish more moves.”