Luis Enrique: I won't be influenced by market over Pedro

FC Barcelona coach Luis Enrique said on Thursday that he would not let the situation regarding striker Pedro Rodriguez's possible transfer to Manchester United affect his selection plans ahead of the first leg of the Spanish Supercup on Friday night.

Pedro was the hero of the European Supercup final on Monday when he scored the winning goal in a 5-4 win against Sevilla, but he also commented that he wanted to play more first team football - something that is difficult for him at Barca with Leo Messi, Neymar and Luis Suarez ahead of the pecking order.

"We know his situation is not typical, but nothing has happened for the moment," said Luis Enrique when asked about the player.

Luis Enrique added that he had not told Pedro whether or not he would travel to Bilbao. "Nobody knows, but I don't take decisions in function of the transfer market," he said, explaining that Pedro had not been first choice on Tuesday, "because he had to leave a training session, His situation is complicated because he wants to stay, but he also wants to play more, while I will continue to use the players who I consider to be best for every game."

"I want the end of the transfer market to come around so all of this is cleared up," said the coach.

Luis Enrique added that his players had to work to reduce the defensive errors that they had made against Sevilla.

"You have to do things well in attack and in defense and although we were better than Sevilla, it was not that clear and there were moments when they were better than us," he admitted.

Finally, he admitted he expected a tough game against Athletic Club Bilbao, who Barca beat 3-1 in the Cup final in May.

"We didn't win that game too clearly and every time we play them we have to play very well. I expect there to be some surprise and we will have to be smart to deal with it," he concluded. Endi