Unai Emery leads Aston Villa against his former side Arsenal at Villa Park on Saturday.
And ahead of the game, the head coach spoke to the media during his pre-match press conference at Bodymoor Heath on Friday.
Here’s what he had to say…
On team news…
“Diego Carlos, we are so happy, because he has started training with us, yesterday and today. But, of course, he will need time to be fit and to be confident to play.
“Bertrand Traoré is getting better, he trained last week, this week as well, and he is in the squad.
“Olsen has a small problem but he is going to be in the squad as well."
He added: “He (Tyrone) is in the squad. He trained today and yesterday but we are going to decide tomorrow morning before the match.
“The last moments are going to be very important about the decision if he can start or not.”
On Tyrone Mings’ new contract…
“He is in the best moment of his career: he’s mature, he has good experiences and he wants to extend his career, physically.
“We are trying to improve as a team, collectively and individually, and with him we are trying to support him and give him the confidence to play.
“I think he can progress with us, and he can progress individually as well because he’s very integrated in the club. The supporters love him.”
On his time at Arsenal…
“At Arsenal, I had very good experiences. I enjoyed it there. I was there for one and a half years.
“You have to use those moments to learn, to get stronger and I think I became a better coach after my experiences in Arsenal.
“I’m so grateful to Arsenal, to the owners, to the supporters, to the players, but my new way is here at Aston Villa.
“I’m very grateful to everybody here and I will use my experiences, that I added to in Arsenal, to use here now and get better with Aston Villa.”
On playing the Gunners…
“Tomorrow, our challenge is clear. Our objective is not to change. When I arrived here we were in the bottom; we progressed and then two weeks ago before the match against Leicester we were very excited about the possibility to get in the top ten and close to playing Europe next year.
“The target is the same as before the match against Leicester and after the two games we lost: we must try to escape the bottom – we are not yet.
“We are trying to add points and get to the top ten, and if we can catch some teams we are going to try and do it.
“Now, we can only think about each match and tomorrow we are facing Arsenal. They are a really good team in a very good moment.
“Their last matches won’t change the confidence and how they are progressing, how they are playing and their possibilities to win the title this year.”
