Unai Emery faced the media on Friday afternoon ahead of Aston Villa’s game against West Ham United.
The head coach was questioned about what he is building at the club, Villa's recent form, opposite number David Moyes and facing the Hammers.
Here’s what he had to say…
On team news…
“(Boubacar) Kamara is not ready for Sunday but he is going well, his injury is going well. I was speaking to him this morning and it’s going well, but not enough for Sunday.
“Diego Carlos is training every day with his process being comfortable. He’s a possibility on Sunday for the first time, included in the squad, which is very good news.
“(Philippe) Coutinho is still injured. (Leander) Dendoncker had a domestic accident, he is progressing this week, training with us but not involved in the normal training sessions. We will have to wait and he is a doubt.”
On the Villa fans…
“We respect a lot the feelings of our supporters, and we have to share their feelings.
“Getting into Europe is a possibility and if we can get a lot of points in the matches we are going to face, we can be close.
“The most important thing now is trying to build a team, trying to build a family, trying to build a way, trying to build a good mentality. And then we can be excited and enjoy each match with our supporters, trying to connect with them, trying to use their energy.
“We have to be professional and focussed on what we are creating and the way we want to do it.”
On his team’s form…
“I am happy. We are in a process and we are winning more than we are losing. We are being demanding of the players to improve in every match and to be competitive away, as we are doing.
“Overall, I think we are in the right way. Sunday is a new challenge after the last match.
“I don’t know how I will feel on Sunday but hopefully we can follow the same way we are doing and being competitive.”
On David Moyes…
“His career is amazing. He has managed in Spain and his experience in England is part of a great career.
“Now with West Ham, he is, overall, being successful. They are playing in Europe, and a lot of teams in the Premier League want to play in Europe and that’s not possible because it’s very difficult to get a [European] place.
“They did it under his management. I respect him a lot; he’s an intelligent coach and his tactical work with different teams has made them very competitive.
“They are near the bottom of the league, but I know from my experiences that to try and get the same performances when you’re playing Premier League, playing cups and playing Europe with a lot of matches, it’s difficult.
“I respect him and I know on Sunday it’s going to be a very tough match for us.”
On facing West Ham…
“We are going to play against teams like West Ham, like Bournemouth next week, and they are playing under the pressure of trying to escape the bottom of the table.
“That is not our focus – our focus is how we can play, how we can manage 90 minutes, trying to play with our idea.
“We respect every team and we have to adapt the tactical way because of the individual quality because they have very good players.
“We are not thinking about the consequences after the match for them. We have to think about our consequences and how we can go up in the table by winning our matches.”
