Birmingham, Sep 13 (IANS): The fixture congestion in club football is at an all-time high. The club's are having to navigate through domestic and European competition with the hopes of not losing any player through injuries. Unai Emery believes Aston Villa’s experience from last season, when they competed in the Europa Conference League, will aid them this time around.
The Villains have Champions League and Carabao Cup matches to play in addition to their Premier League campaign, with Saturday’s match against Everton the first of seven games in 21 days.
“We have had one year of this experience, playing a similar amount of matches until January and then hopefully more depending on whether we are progressing in the Champions League, Carabao Cup and FA Cup. It’s difficult to manage the players when they are playing a lot of matches and international matches, but we have experience,” said Emery in a press conference.
“Last year was very interesting with the season we had. Even with a lot of injuries, we were finishing in good balance. This year, we’ve started with less injured players. Some are injured, like Matty Cash, Robin Olsen and others who have some pain like Watkins. Last year we started with two leg injuries and big injuries to Tyrone Mings and Emi Buendia,” he added.
The Villa manager was pleased to see all his players return from international duty ready to roll for Saturday’s visit of Everton, including Ezri Konsa who’s been passed fit to play.
The form of Jhon Duran, who’s come off the bench to score in two of the team’s three top flight games, has also been a positive for Emery.
“I think Jhon Duran is getting more mature and he’s getting confidence. Ollie Watkins after his small problems and trying to get fitness quickly, is progressively feeling better. They can play individually or they can play together. I want the best from them from here until the end of the season. I am happy with those players in this form,” he concluded.
Aston Villa will be hosting Everton at the Villa Park on Saturday in their first match since the international break.