Fixtures
- Aston Villa Vs. Everton – Sat, Sep 14th 2024, 17:30
Unai Emery says Aston Villa are ready and prepared to tackle their upcoming fixtures following the international break.
The team have Champions League and Carabao Cup matches to play in addition to their Premier League campaign, with Saturday’s match against Everton the first of seven games in 21 days.
Emery believes Villa’s experiences last season, when they competed in the Europa Conference League, will aid them this time around.
“We have had one year of this experience, playing a similar amount of matches until January and then hopefully more depending on whether we are progressing in the Champions League, Carabao Cup and FA Cup,” he said.
“It’s difficult to manage the players when they are playing a lot of matches and international matches, but we have experience.
“Last year was very interesting with the season we had. Even with a lot of injuries, we were finishing in good balance. This year, we’ve started with less injured players.
“Some are injured, like Matty Cash, Robin Olsen and others who have some pain like Watkins. Last year we started with two leg injuries and big injuries to Tyrone Mings and Emi Buendia.
“This year hopefully we can keep the same process we are doing and not having injuries for a long time. I will manage the matches, trying to focus on each match with the players we have available.”
The Villa manager was pleased to see all his players return from international duty ready to roll for Saturday’s visit of Everton, including Ezri Konsa who’s been passed fit to play.
The form of Jhon Durán, who’s come off the bench to score in two of the team’s three top flight games, has also been a positive for Emery.
Emery said: “I’m happy; I want our players competing to increase [their level] and add their qualities to us.
“There are two strikers in good form and they played together last year sometimes. We can repeat that again, better than last year because when they played together they weren’t in good connection on the pitch.
“I think Jhon Durán is getting more mature and he’s getting confidence. Ollie Watkins after his small problems and trying to get fitness quickly, is progressively feeling better.
“They can play individually or they can play together. I want the best from them from here until the end of the season. I am happy with those players in this form.”
