Ernesto Valverde certain of improvement

Athletic Bilbao boss Ernesto Valverde has insisted that the Basque outfit can overcome their poor first half of the season.

Bilbao finished fourth in La Liga last campaign, and as a result secured qualification for the Champions League.

However, it has been a real struggle this term, with just 19 points from 19 games leaving them in 13th position.

Valverde, however, is confident that matters will improve in the coming months.

"The most important thing now is to draw conclusions for the future. Our first round of the season was bad but this is only half of our task. We have to be more forceful in our game over the next round," Valverde told reporters.

Bilbao will face Malaga in the first leg of their Copa del Rey quarter-final on Wednesday.