Aston Villa boss Unai Emery has been speaking to the media before Thursday’s Europa League game against Feyenoord at Stadion Feijenoord (kick-off 20:00 BST).
Here are the key lines from his news conference:
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Jadon Sancho is still unavailable due to sickness after missing out on the matchday squad last weekend. He did train on Wednesday but he will not be in the squad.
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Amadou Onana, Youri Tielemans, Andres Garcia, Ross Barkley and Tyrone Mings are all still out, but some youth players have travelled with the side.
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Emery is confident he has “enough players to get a collective performance and give them the confidence to compete against Feyenoord”.
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The club’s return to Stadion Feijenoord, the ground where they won the 1982 European Cup, will be “very special” because “a lot of the supporters were there” on that day.
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He added: “It will be just like last year when we played against Bayern Munich, the team they beat in that final, which was of course very special as well.”
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When asked whether his Dutch players – Lamare Bogarde, Ian Maatsen, Donyell Malen and Marco Bizot – have told him how difficult it is to win in Rotterdam, he replied: “I know it already. It is always difficult to play away from home and Feyenoord played fantastically in the Champions League last year. Every team that played here struggled.”
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He already knows “what the environment is like” after managing Sevilla there and losing 2-0 in 2015-16. He added: “Their fans support them and push them. It’s like having one more player for them, so we will have to try to dominate our area to try to stop them.”
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On taking on Feyenoord, he said: “It’s important that we are consistent and focused for the full 90 minutes because it is our first away game in the Europa League and we’re against a prestigious team. They are going to be so motivated, so tomorrow will be a huge test for us collectively and individually.”
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There is a lot of “respect” for Feyenoord as fellow former European Cup winners in 1970 and two-time Europa League champions. He added: “They are always playing in European matches, but it will also be a test for them to see how they play against a team like us.”
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Emery believes this fixture will be “one of the most important matches” of Aston Villa’s Europa League campaign.
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