Espanyol vs Athletic Bilbao preview

Espanyol midfielder Victor Sanchez believes his side's emphatic victory over Villarreal shows the Catalan side are determined to finish the season as strong as possible.

Sergio Gonzalez's side were on a hapless run of four league matches without a victory before they visited El Madrigal on Thursday, but produced a dominant performance to win the match 3-0, and will be looking to replicate that display when they host Athletic Bilbao on Sunday.

"The win over Villarreal demonstrates that we still have a lot of hunger and want to have a great season and finish as high up the table as possible," Sanchez told a press conference.

"We had some games where he played well and others where we played badly, but we weren't the same team as two months ago.

"But on Thursday we demonstrated that that team never went away and I hope we can get back on the road to playing well and winning matches.

"The three points give us a little push and boost our morale a lot - and we hope we can keep picking up victories."

Espanyol sit ninth in the Primera Division table ahead of the visit of Athletic, who they trail by two points, and Sanchez hopes his side can beat the Basques to surpass the 40-point mark which all but guarantees them their place in the top flight next season.

"It's a very important game for us where we can move to within sight of securing survival and finish as high as possible," he said.

Gonzalez has a clean bill of health going into the game but Athletic are weakened by the absence of their top scorer Aritz Aduriz, who scored an injury-time equaliser in the 1-1 draw with Valencia on Thursday.

The veteran striker is suspended for the match, while Ander Iturraspe and Iker Muniain are injured, the latter for the rest of the season after suffering an anterior cruciate ligament tear in last weekend's 2-0 defeat at Sevilla.