Villa set for vital phase of pre-season schedule as key figures return

With our first pre-season game in the books, Aston Villa will now step up preparations for the new campaign with our tour of the USA this month.

Having become a fixture of our summer plans, the trip to the Bescot Stadium served its purpose as a solid opener to our pre-season, with the players getting back up to speed and building their match fitness.

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However, now comes the core work in our preparation plans as we’ll spend just shy of a fortnight Stateside, continuing our training sessions and playing three games in the space of seven days against fellow Premier League opposition.

It’s understood that the Villa squad will fly out on July 19, with our first game taking place at Philadelphia’s Lincoln Financial Field against Newcastle Utd four days later, less than a month before we face the Magpies in our opening league game of the new campaign.

Unai Emery will relish this upcoming period as he’ll get the opportunity to work closely with his players, get his ideas across and continue to improve and perfect his methods that proved to be so successful after his arrival last November.

The Spaniard is known for his obsession with detail and to continuously improve by undertaking deep analysis alongside his coaching staff, and so this will be a fundamental time that will hopefully have a major influence on our performances moving forward, as Emery of course didn’t get this chance last year.

Further, he’ll welcome his new signings to the fold as Youri Tielemans is expected to join up with the squad this week, while Pau Torres will step up his work after having a couple of days at Bodymoor Heath to settle in and acclimatise last week.

A number of familiar faces will also now report back too, as Emiliano Martinez, Tyrone Mings, John McGinn and Boubacar Kamara will link back up with the group after having an extended break due to their international commitments at the end of last season, while Cameron Archer and others will also bolster numbers with a point to prove this summer.

This is ultimately now where the bulk of our work will be done with a full squad available, albeit Alex Moreno and Jacob Ramsey could stay behind to continue to receive treatment on their respective injuries, while there are question marks over the likes of Bertrand Traore and Philippe Coutinho who were also on the road to recovery this summer.

It’s hoped that everyone comes through the upcoming schedule unscathed and in top condition by the time they return to complete our last two fixtures, and beyond that, it promises to be a fascinating period to determine how much further improvement we’ll see from the squad in the new season.

Time will tell if any additional signings are made while we’re over in the US as speculation continues to link us with various names, but that will ultimately be an added bonus if we continue to strengthen and get any new faces over the pond to join the squad as we have a big couple of weeks ahead.

Aston Villa 2023 pre-season schedule [local times]: