Consistency is key for Emery ahead of West Ham trip

Unai Emery has challenged his players to keep being consistent away from home as they head to West Ham United on Sunday.

Both teams enjoyed European success in midweek, with the Hammers reaching the quarter-finals of the Europa League.

And Emery is expecting a tough match as Villa look to win a fourth consecutive Premier League game on their travels.

“They are being consistent, and they are being successful in Europe – last year they won the Conference League,” he said.

“In the league, they are being consistent and contenders to try and be in the top seven teams.

“Sunday is very important for us and for them as well. We’re going to respect them a lot. It’s a big challenge for us to keep being consistent away, to keep being focused in each competition and trying to get the best performances.

“My objective is to recover with the players and prepare as best as possible the match on Sunday and to be competitive on Sunday because the only way to win there is being competitive. I also need to be clinical in every decision I take tactically.”

Both teams will have to contend with a quick turnaround from their midweek exploits into Sunday’s match at London Stadium.

Emery believes his players are now accustomed to playing two matches a week and know how to deal with a busy schedule.

He said: “The players have to be ready, always being professional: playing matches, recovering, being intelligent.

“Playing next week in the break with their national teams, we have a lot of players. Some are debuting in Europe this year, but they are playing in their national teams too – for example, Watkins and Konsa.

“They have to be ready to play more than one match per week. This is the way and the process I want to do here.

“Playing today, it’s hard to play on Sunday, but we have to recover and focus on Saturday to be ready to play on Sunday being fit.”