Aston Villa boss Unai Emery conceded that he was disappointed with our 4-1 defeat to Man City, but reiterated the need to rotate and give opportunities to players.
There were two enforced changes for the Villa boss as Ollie Watkins was ruled out with a hamstring injury, while Emiliano Martinez was eventually deemed unavailable due to illness despite initially being named in the starting XI.
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However, Emery made four further changes with Pau Torres, Alex Moreno, Youri Tielemans and Leon Bailey named on the bench, and that arguably gave the impression that he was thinking ahead and prioritising our upcoming run of games.
While he conceded that was part of his thinking with a hectic fixture schedule to come, the Villa boss was clear in insisting that he has faith in his squad, and he must give playing time to others in order for them to be able to adapt and settle in our structure.
That in turn saw Tim Iroegbunam, Nicolo Zaniolo and Jhon Duran all start, and while there were positive signs along the way, it ultimately wasn’t enough to get the better of Man City for a second time this season.
“I’m a little bit disappointed but we tried to compete until minute 60 when they scored their third goal,” he told VillaTV. “We were planning to change some players, but after they scored the third goal it was more difficult. They were pushing a lot and controlling the game more than us.
“We were getting some transitions but they showed their power and their capacity to beat us. It was a very tough match.
“We have to accept the result. We had to give some players a chance to play, like Robin Olsen, like Tim and striker Jhon Durán, Zaniolo and Morgan.
“I am happy with the opportunity they had to get confidence and be stronger in our structure. We will need a lot of players for the next matches we are facing.”
Meanwhile, Emery also praised Duran for his goal and his first-half performance in particular, and depending on whether or not Watkins is available this weekend, the Colombian forward could get a chance to build on this outing and continue to showcase his quality when it’s most needed.
“It was a very good goal,” he added on Duran’s first-half effort. “In the second half we were demanding more and more of him because maybe he was tired.
“He can exploit his power like he did in the first half and continue getting fit for the next matches.”
Villa will hope to welcome Martinez back against Brentford given it was a stomach bug that prevented him from playing in midweek, while Watkins will undergo further tests on Thursday to determine if he’s going to be available for selection.
John McGinn returns from suspension, Jacob Ramsey will be moving closer to a comeback of his own, while Torres, Moreno, Tielemans and Bailey will all hope to return to the fold from the start.
In turn, we can expect a much stronger Villa line-up to be named on Saturday, but it’s imperative having adopted the strategy to rotate and rest in midweek at Man City, we respond well and get three points at home against Brentford, in a game that Emery evidently wants to prioritise and will feel as though we have a better chance of getting the desired result.
