3-1

"McGinn has trained with us normally and is feeling good, Konsa as well. He is feeling good. Jaden is feeling good. I think it is the first time this year we have more or less every player available to play. Only still out, but he is training not 100 per cent Robin Olsen.

"I am thinking as well how with his [Jhon Duran] process here and how he is progressing to have more opportunities to start. Maybe tomorrow or the next matches we are going to play, but I think he is ready. His next challenges are coming."

"Today it is Friday, we trained in the morning. Every player who is in the squad they can start. Jhon Duran, now, his performances have been very good for him and for us. He is playing minutes and progressively I am getting more minutes for him."

"I respect a lot Marco Silva as a coach. I think he is an incredible coach. He is taking a lot of experiences and the work he is doing is fantastic. They are very competitive and they have very good organisation, tactically, offensively and defensively. You can watch of them how the demands that the coaches impose there.

"They are three points behind us and when I arrived here they were ahead of Villa. They were a rival for us to get into Europe. Last year, they compete very well and were in the middle, but each year they are a team who are an option to get into the top seven. It is a very important match because this is a team I am analysing who are relevant to us to try and keep a top position in the table.

"The players were playing for their national teams and they are progressively arriving here. They are feeling comfortable as well. Here we are excited and motivated how we can play in different competitions in each month. Tomorrow we play in the Premier League, which is the most important [competition].

"Tuesday we play in the Champions League and we have to manage the match tomorrow. After that, we are going to try and take the best decisions with the players who are playing more than others. I am very happy because players like Emi Buendia are getting better and we are adding other players, Mings and Kamara.

"They were very important. We are as well getting minutes on the field with Jaden and he played really fantastic matches against Bayern Munich and against Manchester United. I think we can feel comfortable how we are now with different options in the starting XI being competitive and how we can get our best level in the squad. I am very happy.

"I am analysing each opponent, but also building our own team with new options we have. Players are getting better and we have more available ahead of the matches we are going to face. I always analyse deeply our structure and how we can improve that. How we played against Ipswich and how we played against Bayern and how we played against Manchester United.

"After two weeks, also how we recover again our focus playing as a team and how we identify quickly the improvements we want to make. This is my work for each match.

"It is not easy, but trying to focus quickly with the players about the matches we are going to face. Today in the morning we spoke about the tactical game plan for tomorrow. We will travel to Fulham and this evening we will work again and tomorrow morning to change the mind of players after their matches with national teams.

"We are being very demanding when we are selecting the squad, finding how we can improve always our challenges and as well our performances through those players being demanding themselves as well. I don’t want to allow for some circumstances which could relax us. Tomorrow we are going to play for three points.

"I think we were competing last year with some players being injured, important players too. We are competing now until today with some players being injured as well. When we can add players like Mings, Kamara, Buendia, Jaden and Barkley in the squad, we are training everybody to understand our idea and style to get each one in their position feeling comfortable.

"We are then strong. I think this is the message. To keep the same level we had last year is the challenge we have. We have started the season being strong. The Champions League has been even better than expected."

Unai Emery pre-match.




Every match we play is a difficult match and we have to be very, very consistent, focusing each moment being 100 per cent.

"Today we corrected a lot of things we did wrong at Ipswich. I am very happy because we reacted very well, playing being serious and mature.

"[I am] Very proud of our mentality here. The supporters always travel with us to be here because it is through this competition we can get the next year in Europe. We are trying to keep the same performances we had in the Premier League last year and be strong.

"Then, enjoying it as well and trying to compete in the Champions League too. At the moment, we are getting good results. Today, we needed to play this match competing against Fulham who are in a very good moment.

"It is always difficult to win here. The first thing is to compete and avoid their style and idea, how they are playing. We wanted to stop them playing with the ball and stop them offensively because they are strong. We did a fantastic job.

"Even when they had a penalty and scored first, we focused together. The first half we finished drawing and playing like we wanted. The second half we managed to keep that.

"We respected them until the last minute because here they are feeling strong. I am proud of our work and now we can change our mind to Tuesday."

Unai Emery post-match.



"They scored in the first five minutes, but we knuckled down after that and we dominate pretty much most of the game. We should have scored a few more, but in the second half we put our foot on the gas and we deserved the win.

"It was massive to respond how we did so quickly. It helped settle the nerves and we were generally playing well and to get it so quick did help.

"That's why he's [Emiliano Martinez’]the best. That's what he does. If it goes 2-1 anything can happen in the game.

"We work hard on set-pieces leading into every game. We know how they setup and we are trying to score - it's an opportunity. Ollie puts it away as he normally does.

"After the international break you start fresh with a clean slate and to get the win is massive. We have an important week and it's just the start of it."

Morgan Rogers.



"Lucas is really amazing in how he was doing his process here with us.

”When I arrived here, I was not happy with his performances. I was not happy and I told him in that moment, I needed more from him, and I needed more in everything. But he was having some moments being injured - his shoulder, his hamstring. But he was always being very demanding of himself to try to do everything I was asking of him. And just now we are two years since we arrive here.

"More in everything, more offensively, more defensively and even more commitment every day, because sometimes he had some problems. Now he accepted and he started to be demanding with himself when I arrived here with every conversation I had with him.

"He is really being very competitive. He's been very demanding. He's adapting everything we were asking of him and it's a very good example for other players in how he is as a professional. I am impressed about how he accepted everything even when I was sometimes being very hard with him.

"He accepted and he was adapting in everything I was asking of him, and really he deserved to come back again with his national team. We are very happy for him. He's very happy, of course, and he's very competitive, and he wants more, more and more. And now he's playing again Champions League and of course, he's grateful to be with Aston Villa and our new way. And really he's a very good example.

"I first told him that I wanted to add one more left-back in the squad and we did with Alex Moreno. This summer, we did with with Ian Maatsen. But he accepted the challenges I was facing to him.

"More or less we are playing with both players in the same way, tactically, offensively and defensively. But one thing is clear, he has improved a lot defensively, focusing in the tactical defensive idea we have. He was progressing a lot and now I think he's defending better than when we arrive here.

"And offensively, we try to use him very intelligently, with our structure and using his very good crossing. He has very good tempo to go higher when we need it. And he's a player with experience. He's mature, he's responsible. He has a very good mentality.

"I think I was demanding in a lot of things and he has been doing them all, and he was improving, and he was working, trying to get better through the work. Now he's playing with national team and of course, he's enjoying every day, wanting more even than he's doing.

"For example, France were playing on Monday and usually the players, when they are with the national team, I give them two days off after the matches they played in. But he was here on Wednesday. Himself he decided to come here, to recover and to train. Of course, when it's one decision like that we accept it because when he came here on Wednesday, I told the physios and the coaches 'today is not necessarily his session here with us, but he wants to train'."

Unai Emery on Lucas Digne.



"He’s so unlucky, Matty Cash, isn’t he? But it is a penalty because his arm is so outstretched. He will argue is is so close but that is not a natural position. He is unlucky he is so close, but the arm is so outstretched.

"Whatever he’s doing, the arm’s too high, it’s been knocked back into an attacking position. I think it’s a really good intervention because the other angle it doesn’t look a penalty, but at that angle it has to be given.

“[Jaden Philogene-Bidace’s second booking was] not [enough for a second booking] for me, it’s a foul only,

"If you’re breaking a promising attack I’ve defended referees three times already this season, but as you can see there is a Villa player alongside him. I thought he was very unlucky."

Former Premier League referee Dermot Gallagher highlights Darren England’s poor performance.



"The manager wasn’t happy and we weren’t happy about those games (against Ipswich and United).

"We were in the position where we could have won those games, probably should have won those games, so we were disappointed.

"He [Emery] focused highly on controlling the game because he knew on counter attacks they are dangerous. Their front four are deadly. You saw against Man City the trouble they caused on the counter attack so we knew if our structure, if our play in possession wasn’t right we would get exploited.

"I think that is what we did well. When we lost the ball and were out of possession we did really well to stop their threat. They have been causing loads of teams problems all season.

"The main thing for us today was how we were when we lost the ball and out of possession, knowing they could be deadly. I think we controlled the game really well and that is why we dominated. We starved them of chances and that is why we won.

"He [Emery] is a genius. He breathes the game, he breathes the next game. He senses how the games are going to go and nine times out of 10, or even 10 times out of 10, it goes that way. He knows how the game is going to pan out and knows what we have to do to win the game. If we do it, we will win the game. He is a genius.

"You can see it on the pitch in the way we play. Everyone knows to a tee what we have to do and when we do it, we pull off performances like that. Him, the staff, they are so hard and demanding, physically and mentally but it pays off. On a matchday you can see why he does what he does in the week.

"As long as you stick to the plan, listen to what he is saying and buy into what he is saying, take it in, like I did when I first came. I have come a long way but I know there is still a bit of improvement and he is hammering on about that so yeah, I just want to improve and get better and he is the perfect person for that."

Morgan Rogers on Unai Emery.



"Youri Tielemans, when we signed him last year, we were doing a plan with him.

"Of course, last year, he was more or less replacing Douglas Luiz and sometimes playing together, but when we were trying to get balance in our structure, we were playing with Kamara and Douglas Luiz.

"He played in different positions, a number eight or number 10, he was playing well because he is very intelligent. But his best position is number eight. Now, after Luiz has left, the position he is playing with us is where he is feeling better with his capacity and qualities. We are very happy because he is a very good guy, he is a very professional guy, his commitment with his teammates is fantastic and he loves football.

"He is always ready to play and ready to learn on everything we are learning. He was struggling at Leicester and I don’t know exactly why. They were relegated two years ago and they were not playing well.

"They had Barnes, Tielemans, Maddison, those players are now playing for Tottenham, Newcastle and Tielemans is here with us. I think he is again comfortable and feeling happy, in his position feeling good in our structure and ideas.

"We will need him and Ross Barkley, whose adaptation is getting better and better. I will use both players this year a lot of times, maybe even playing together sometimes."

Unai Emery on Youri Tielemans.