Fixtures
- Nottingham Forest Vs. Aston Villa – Sat, Dec 14th 2024, 17:30
Unai Emery will assess his Aston Villa squad ahead of Saturday’s Premier League trip to Nottingham Forest.
Villa head to The City Ground on the back of three consecutive wins in all competitions having triumphed over Brentford, Southampton and RB Leipzig.
The trio of successive victories came in the space of a week, with Villa’s hectic schedule having seen them play six matches in the last 18 days.
Ollie Watkins was replaced at half-time in Tuesday’s 3-2 UEFA Champions League triumph over Leipzig in Germany.
And the Villa striker will be monitored during Friday afternoon’s training session.
Speaking at the club’s pre-match media conference, manager Emery said: “We are going to train this afternoon and after the training session we are going to decide how the players are.
“We trained yesterday but it was a recovery day and some players rested as well.
“Today we are going to try to train and to know how we are after four matches in a few days.
“Tomorrow is going to be a very difficult match and we have to try to play with the best players we have or the best players who are, more or less, full of everything – energy, fitness, good rest.
“This afternoon is the key for how we can go tomorrow.”
Asked about Watkins’ potential availability, Emery replied: “I don’t know. We’re waiting.
“Yesterday he was recovering and this afternoon we are going to train and in case he is training normally, he is feeling good, he’s going to be available for tomorrow. If (he’s) not, not.”
