Terzić: “I feel we are on a very good way"

Edin Terzić spoke to the media at Lezama ahead of Saturday's clash between Athletic Club and Deportivo Alavés at San Mamés.

The head coach is looking forward to his first derby since taking charge of the Lions and sees the match as a good opportunity to build on the team's progress at the start of the season.

“It's my first derby as Athletic head coach and I'm aware of how important this match is. There's an emotional side to it and that's important, but it's even more important that we prepare ourselves properly for the game,” Terzić said.

The coach highlighted Alavés' strong start to the season and some of their main strengths: “Alavés have a good structure, a good coach and they're effective. They're dangerous in the box, they can play with two strikers and have up to five players attacking the area.”

Nevertheless, Terzić stressed that his main focus is on Athletic: “We have total respect for our opponents, but I'm more concerned with our team and how we can be dangerous ourselves.”

The head coach wants to use the derby as an opportunity to keep adding points: “We feel much better after winning, so tomorrow is a great opportunity to get our next victory.”

Terzić also expressed his satisfaction with the team's development during the opening weeks of the season. “I feel we're on a very good path, but this is only the beginning. We're taking good steps and that's important when you start developing something new. Results and matches will give us even more confidence.”

In that regard, the coach believes Athletic's performances so far could have yielded more points: “I think perhaps we deserved a few more points based on our performances, but we can start adding those points tomorrow.”

Finally, Terzić reflected on a week marked by travelling and the postponement of the scheduled match in Valencia. He acknowledged that the situation forced Athletic to adjust their plans, but insisted it would not be an issue ahead of Saturday's match: “We've been travelling and that has an effect. Even though we didn't end up playing, we had to adapt our training to compensate for Wednesday, but it's not a problem.”