Athletic Bilbao coach Ernesto Valverde admits they were not at their best for last night's 1-0 defeat against CA Osasuna in the Copa semi-final first leg at El Sadar.

In a game of few chances, with neither side finding their rhythm, Ez Abde's 48th-minute strike settled the tie in favour of the hosts.

"It was a scrappy match. Neither side could get the ball under control," Valverde said during his post-match press conference.

"I don't know if it's because both teams showed each other too respect. You could really see that there was a lot at stake and there was a lot of hesitation rather than chances. Then they scored the goal on a counter attack and as the game progressed we got forward more, but it wasn't enough."

The boss is hopeful of Athletic's chances in the second leg saying "we have to improve, obviously, but there are a lot of things we're doing well".

He continued: "The favourite is the one who is in the lead. We're losing at the moment and we have to mount a comeback. There's a month to go until the second leg and you don't know what can happen between now and then. We both have to focus on LaLiga. You can't ignore the results and we're not happy."