Unai Emery was in front of the media at Bodymoor Heath on Thursday afternoon for his pre-match press conference.
Aston Villa’s head coach had plenty of topics to discuss ahead of his side’s trip to Chelsea in the Premier League on Saturday.
Here’s what he had to say…
On team news…
“Cash is injured and he is going to be out for a couple of weeks, maybe more, hopefully less than three weeks.
“But more or less, this injury, going normally for the player, is three weeks. Still injured is Coutinho, he’s progressing but is not yet ready to train with us.
“Kamara, this week, was training with us. If tomorrow he is ready, he is training normal, I think we can use him in the squad for the match on Saturday.
“Dendoncker as well has trained with us for the last two weeks normally, he is ready to play.
“The last players arrived today after their matches with their national teams. Hopefully tomorrow we can train normally and be ready for Saturday.”
On John McGinn…
“He has very good spirit every day; he’s smiling every day; he wants to train every day. As a professional, he’s amazing with his commitment and his example for other players.
“I like him. When I arrived here, I remember the first meeting we had in the dressing room and now he’s the same.
“I’m very happy with him and his performances have been at a high level. He’s played as a midfielder in the last two matches, as a number ten, and he played very well.
“It was very good for me to know he can play in different positions.”
On Jacob Ramsey…
“He’s very focused to improve. He’s very focused to take everything, tactically, we are demanding of him. He’s working, collectively and individually, a lot.
“He’s from Birmingham and we have to keep players like him because of the spirit he can add to the squad, with his quality as well.
“The next objective for him is to be the captain of the Under-21s for the national team and the in the future, the captain of the national team in England.”
On facing Chelsea…
“Chelsea are a candidate to be in the top four but after 27 games, they are not. They have very good players and their coach is amazing.
“His work in Brighton was amazing and he needs time to adapt his ideas to Chelsea. Progressively, they are doing better.
“We are in the same position. We are 11th but we’re really close and with the same points as Chelsea. We’re close to teams that are having a very good season: Fulham, Brentford, Brighton.
“We are excited by the prospect, for the first time, to be close to them.”
On Graham Potter…
“(Thomas) Tuchel’s work was amazing with Chelsea, but Potter’s work in Brighton was amazing as well. He deserved to take a step ahead with a team like Chelsea.
“They are progressing, and everything he did in Brighton he can do in Chelsea. He needs time, he needs matches and to know his players better.
“They played very well in the Champions League. In the Premier League, they’re not keeping the balance of being consistent in the table.
“For us, Saturday is a match against one of the best teams in the Premier League, with a very good coach, with very good players.
“It’s a very good challenge, and I came here because I want to play against the best teams.”