Valverde: "We want to be as high up the table as possible”

Athletic Club head coach Ernesto Valverde urged his Lions to take to take advantage of "an important opportunity" to put pressure on the top four as San Mames hosts Girona FC on Monday night (21:00 CET).

The Zurigorri are fifth in the LaLiga EA Sports standings and five points off fourth-placed Atlético Madrid with a game in hand.

"Athletic and Girona are both in a very good position in the standings. Our intention is to be as high up the table as possible," the gaffer said at his pre-match press conference.

"We have an important opportunity to move closer towards those in front of us and increase the gap with those behind us. We're playing at San Mames and we have to go for the win."

Nonetheless, Valverde is under no illusions about how good Girona are this season and he is expecting a tough test in Bilbao.

He said: "They combine well and play very good football. They're very good technically and can attack your area with ease.

"Girona are very aggressive on the road. They have only lost one game, at the Bernabéu, and have the second best away record in the league. Their numbers say it all, for a long time they have been the most in-form team in competition.

"They're having an extraordinary season. They're a great opponent and we'll have to play a very well to beat them."

The gaffer stressed the importance of maintaining our good form at The Cathedral with a run of vital home matches coming up.

"We're playing very well at San Mamés this year. We are very strong, but there are key games in store against big opponents and we have to keep up our form. Tomorrow's game is another test of that."