Aston Villa boss Unai Emery has been speaking to the media before Thursday’s Champions League game against Go Ahead Eagles at De Adelaarshorst (kick-off 17:45 BST).
Here are the key lines from his news conference:
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Defender Lucas Digne has been ruled out of the game because of the injury sustained in the win at Tottenham on Sunday.
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Emery added: “The players who are not here because they are injured are Youri Tielemans, Andres García, and [also] Ross Barkley because he’s not in the list for this competition.”
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On maintaining a winning start: “We’ve used this competition to get confidence, and tomorrow the objective is not to get confidence but to compete. Because of how we started, these three points are very important in case we want to be in the top eight.”
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On improving since beating Bologna 1-0: “We now have the time we needed to adapt some new players and create the emotional balance within the team.”
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Emery described goalkeeper Marco Bizot as a “fantastic player” and praised the Dutchman as a “very good example”.
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On progress towards new player contracts, Emery said: “The club is working on each individual situation with Matty Cash, Morgan Rogers and John McGinn. Of course, they are very important players for us and are committed to Aston Villa.”
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On Go Ahead Eagles: “We have a lot of respect for the teams in Europe because they are usually very motivated when they are playing at home. They are going to be playing at home with their supporters and will try to beat us.”
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He added: “They have a good style, look to make combinations and to keep possession of the ball. They are also really aggressive, man to man in their high press. It means we have to adapt in everything that we do.”
