Unai Emery press conference: Aston Villa vs Leeds

Emery has confirmed that right-back Matty Cash returns for the weekend’s fixture, having missed the past two matches. “He trained the last two training sessions and he is feeling good and he is coming back.”

He also said that John McGinn, Boubacar Kamara, Youri Tielemans and Alysson are all still injured, with no indication of when they will return.

He praised Leeds’ versatility: “Sometimes they play in combinations and sometimes they play long balls. Sometimes they go man for man in duels and defend very well. We have analysists watching their game.”

On Aston Villa: “We are being demanding, of course, and we are being consistent, how we want to keep our good form, our mood, our structure tactically, our confidence, sometimes not thinking, only when we are winning.”

He added: “As well, when we are losing, we are trying to identify how we must feel comfortable, confidence, winning and losing, because more or less, the teams are responding in the same ways when we are winning and when we are losing.”

He continued: “The confidence is coming with the good results and sometimes losing, you need as well to try to recover first the emotions inside the dressing room.”

Emery explains why the Premier League comes first for him over cup competitions: “I can explain why I am prioritising the Premier League. There are 38 matches and we must be consistent, starting in August and finishing in May because through the Premier League you can play in Europe with the Champions League, Europa League and Conference League.”

On Villa being third in the league: “Of course, we are feeling so, so comfortable, third in the league. We are so, so happy, but we know we must be so, so demanding to keep it and to dream.”

He added: “To dream in football and to dream expecting to achieve something important, is very important, as well and to have this objective or this motivation, I like a lot.”