Sevilla boss Unai Emery has said that his team "showed courage" on Saturday as they recorded an overdue victory against Rayo Vallecano.

The Europa League winners failed to win any of their first five games of the new La Liga season, but moved off the bottom of the table with a 3-2 success over Rayo on Saturday.

Emery is still aware that improvement is needed, but has claimed that he was pleased with the response from his troops.

"The win will help us regain our confidence. Now we must keep improving. The team showed courage, but we still need more balance," Emery told reporters.

"The win offers us respite in the table and gives us tranquility, but with the obligation of staying on the path [we're now on].

"We had chances to earn a clearer result, but we must now focus on maintaining our confidence because anxiety crept in as conceding a goal generates fear and we don't want to appear afraid."

Sevilla return to Champions League action on Wednesday with a trip to Juventus.