PEDROSA ON HIS FIRST FEW GAMES: "I'M HAPPY BUT WANT MORE"

Adrià Pedrosa has landed on his feet after his move to Sevilla FC. Speaking on Club Media Day, organised by Sevilla and LaLiga, the defender confirmed that he is greatly enjoying life at his new club, something that has been clear in his performances at the start of the league campaign: "I'm very grateful for the warm reception I've been given here. At the start people didn't know me that well and perhaps expected less of me, but I wanted to show them they could trust me. I never want a teammate to get injured, but Marcos [Acuña] being unavailable has allowed me to show what I can do, even though I still have so much to improve."

This bright start comes after a tough campaign at Espanyol last year: "At first I was worried I wouldn't be able to keep up here as the schedule isn't so hectic at Espanyol and I didn't play much last season due to injury. In preseason, I still hadn't fully recovered and couldn't quite reach the same level as the rest of the squad, so knew I had to get my act together. I pushed myself physically as much as possible, but with that work I now feel really happy with where I am." Next up is a return to his home city: "For me, playing Barca has always meant a derby and those were special matches. I'm looking forward to the one here in Seville, which is bigger because of the level of pressure and its importance to the city. However on Friday I have the added bonus of wanting to play a good game and to beat them, as I came close to doing with Espanyol. It's not at the Camp Nou, where the atmosphere is more intense, so I think we can pull off a surprise."

Furthemore, making your Champions League debut is always special: "There are new emotions you've never experienced and you don't know how you're going to feel, like before Lens I was more nervous than normal. But I was also confident that I would perform well because as soon as the game starts you stop thinking and instinct takes over. I felt mentally free and was entirely focussed on putting in a strong showing." On thrashing Almería, the summer signing felt the team "put out a statement win for everyone to see, not just those at the stadium." We have a great squad and I think we'll show lots of fight on Friday." He's optimistic but at the same time self-aware: "I'm happy but not complacent. I'm 25 and I know I can improve a lot more, both mentally and in terms of my footballing ability. But I'm happy, above all because this season has already been so much better than last year for me. Now I can just focus on my football so I'm really pleased and hope things can continue in this direction."