Unai Emery's Aston Villa remain fifth in the Premier League table (Image: Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images)

Full Unai Emery press conference as Aston Villa boss agrees about big positive after Man United draw

Unai Emery spoke to the press after Aston Villa's goalless draw with Manchester United in the Premier League

by · Birmingham Live

Aston Villa manager Unai Emery sat down with the media after his side's 0-0 stalemate with Manchester United at Villa Park.

The result leaves Villa in fifth place on 14 points heading into the October international break. Here is every word Emery said in his post-match press conference...

Do you feel that was a point gained or two lost?

"I think the result for both teams is fair. Maybe the first half they controlled the match better. We didn’t concede many chances, but they controlled it better than we did.

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"The second half we corrected things and pushed in different ways how we could play better in the second half. They hit the crossbar, but we were better in positioning and we created a few chances to score.

"The most important chance we created to score was the last one with Jaden. It was a tight match, but we have to accept it and the draw is fair for both teams. We are in the top five and in Europe we are challenging very well in the first two matches we played. It is a positive the way we are doing. I am satisfied but also demanding for the next month."

How is Ezri Konsa?

"I don’t know exactly. I think it is hamstring, but I don’t know if it’s a big or small injury. Hopefully it is a small injury. We have to rest now and recover some players like Ramsey, Onana and McGinn. They are coming back for the next two weeks starting with us and being available to include in the squad Kamara and Tyrone Mings. Buendia is getting fitter and better. We will need them."

Are you disappointed not to find that extra gear?

"Playing in Europe and then playing against Manchester United, there is a tough demand on us. How we played against them last year, losing to them at home, we planned to forget the match on Wednesday and play with all our energy today.

"Today, maybe some players needed to be refreshed, but we don’t have those players because they are injured like Ramsey and McGinn. We are taking lots of information from Philogene and Barkley, they played fantastic. It is important they get minutes on the field.

"We will need players to be ready to play. The information we have now is very important for us."

Unai Emery (Image: Photo by Catherine Ivill - AMA/Getty Images)

Are you concerned by the amount of injuries you’ve had at the start of the season?

"We are not having a lot of important injuries, just small injuries. It is normal and some players have hamstring or small injuries. But for me it is not really relevant. The idea is to try and reduce the risk and have players to play instead of them.

"At the moment we are doing that and some players are coming back after long injuries. Players with small injuries, they should be available again like Onana and Ramsey."

It’s a big positive that you have kept two clean sheets in the space of a few days…

"Yes. It is important as well because of the teams we played, Manchester United and Bayern Munich. It is also important to keep the balance and increase our level. We are playing more or less being consistent and competitive against the teams we played.

"This is the challenge we have and we need to be consistent with the objective we are adding. They are more demanding than last year."

How do you assess Philogene's performance?

"Really good. Jaden is really playing in the idea we have defensively and offensively, being competitive and challenging himself with the capacity he has to increase our level. He is doing that. I am very happy.

"He can play on the left and right. Today we had two players out. Leon Bailey is progressively getting better, but he is not fit completely 100 per cent. He is having some injuries, not getting comfortable to play 90 minutes or feeling fit. Today after 60 minutes, he replaced him with Jaden on the right side."

Were you surprised Rashford wasn’t shown another yellow card?

"I didn’t watch this action. I always respect the referees."

What did you make of Emery's comments? Tell us here

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