'We will continue to fight' - Sevilla's Bounou not giving up on La Liga title

Yassine Bounou is refusing to give up on Sevilla's La Liga title chase despite losing 1-0 to Athletic Bilbao on Monday evening.

Unbeaten in their last eight Spanish elite division matches, Julen Lopetegui's men were hoping to continue their impressive streak against the Lions at home - which would boost their domestic aspirations.

However, that was not the case as Inaki Williams' 90th-minute strike ensured that Marcelino Garcia's team left the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan Stadium with all points on offer.

Profiting from a counter-attack, the Spanish forward, who came on for Asier Villalibre, fired the ball past the Moroccan goalkeeper after collecting a pass from Oihan Sancet.

Sevilla are, however, just six points below leaders Atletico Madrid - with four games left to play - and Bounou is adamant his side will remain in the title fight.

"Right now, I am disappointed because we were very excited to remain hooked," the former Wydad Casablanca and Girona told the club website.

"We made a very complete match, we put up with the whole game and in a transition, we ended up on the losing side. The team will continue to fight until the end, however.

"We had good opportunities, our opponent's goalkeeper made good saves and the team cannot be blamed for anything.

"We will continue to fight to improve the fourth position."

Echoing this sentiment is French centre-back of Beninese descent Jules Kounde.

First, the 22-year-old talked about his fitness after overcoming some discomfort during the past week.

"I am well, it is true that I had discomfort, but less than during the week," said Kounde.

"It's hard now, we're disappointed as we wanted to win to get more chances.

"Mathematically it's possible, but it's very difficult and you have to keep fighting.

"We have left everything in the field, we had several opportunities and we lacked a little more success. It's very hard."

Youssef En-Nesyri was named in the starting XI but he was substituted for Franco Vazquez with nine minutes left to play.

Sevilla would be hoping to bounce back to winning ways when they face title challengers Real Madrid in their next outing on Sunday.