Athletic Bilbao boss Ernesto Valverde has said that his team are currently "making up" for their poor start to the campaign.

The Basque outfit beat Barcelona in the Spanish Super Cup before the 2015-16 season started, but they only won one of their opening six league matches this term.

Valverde's side have won each of their last five games in all competitions, however, including a 2-1 victory over Espanyol in La Liga at the weekend, which moved them into eighth position.

"It was a tough match, with many duels and lots of clashes. We've overcome a difficult week after the European game on Thursday against Partizan," Valverde told reporters.

"It was our toughest week before the international break due to the short time frame. We're making up our deficit in the table and we have to keep going."

Bilbao are also sitting top of their Europa League group, having won three of their four Group L matches thus far this season.