La Liga preview: Eibar v Athletic Bilbao

Eibar forward Mikel Arruabarrena believes the key to his side turning around their form is to rediscover the level of intensity they played with earlier in the season.

Gaizka Garitano's side have lost five matches in a row and are without a win in the second half of the campaign - something they will be looking to put right when they host fellow Basque side Athletic Bilbao on Sunday.

Their dismal form since the new year has been in stark contrast to their performances in the first half of the season, in which they picked up an impressive 26 points from 19 matches.

"We have to think about what we did well in the first half of the season and return to that level of intensity, because if we drop our intensity then we are a vulnerable team," Arruabarrena told a press conference.

The striker and vice-captain also hinted that his side had lost their hunger as their first term in the top flight has gone on.

"We need to recover that hope and excitement we had from the first game in the Primera Division against Real Sociedad in August, and the will to play well," he said.

"We have to all pull together, because we are a limited and humble team. We are going through a bad time at the moment, but we still have confidence in our ability, we feel good, we have recovered our good feeling and we are close to getting a victory."

Eibar came close to interrupting their losing streak last weekend at Villarreal, and were only beaten by a late Luciano Vietto goal, facilitated by poor goalkeeping from Xabier Irureta.

They now face an Athletic side who are level on points with Eibar for the first time this season following their win over Rayo Vallecano, although the Basques suffered disappointment during the week as they were eliminated from the Europa League by Torino.

Arruabarrena outlined the best way for his team to approach the game with Athletic.

"We have to be a team that concedes very few goals again, not commit any errors and be focused for all of the game," he said.

"We also need to keep a good eye on (Aritz) Aduriz, who at 34 years of age is having the best season of his career."

Eibar have just one absentee ahead of the Basque derby, with full-back Abraham out with a muscle problem, but Italian striker Federico Piovacarri returns after a one-game suspension.

Athletic also have just one player out - injured midfielder Ander Iturraspe.