Ezri Konsa cannot wait to fulfil a childhood ambition of playing in Europe when Aston Villa open their UEFA Europa Conference League campaign on Thursday.
Villa, competing in the group stages of European competition for the first time since 2008, travel to Poland to face Legia Warszawa, runners-up in their domestic top flight last term.
Just over 1,700 Villa fans will be at The Marshall Józef Piłsudski's Municipal Stadium of Legia Warsaw in the Polish capital for the club’s opening Group E fixture.
And centre-back Konsa cannot wait to make his European bow in claret and blue.
“For me personally, it’s a big thing,” he told VillaTV.
“As a little kid, I’ve always wanted to play in a European competition and Thursday is going to be an exciting day.
“I think the atmosphere is going to be crazy over there, so I’m really looking forward to it.
“Hopefully we can get the three points as well.”
He added: “I feel the crowd is going to be behind them from the first whistle, it’s going to be a difficult place to go and get the three points.”
Konsa joined Villa in the summer of 2019 following the club’s promotion to the Premier League.
Now in his fifth season at Villa Park and with almost 150 appearances under his belt, Europe represents another significant milestone on Konsa’s Villa journey.
And the 25-year-old admits he is loving life as a Villan under Unai Emery.
“I’m really enjoying my football,” he said.
“I think this is the best time of my career, since I’ve been a Villa player.
“I feel like I’m really thriving under the boss, enjoying every minute, enjoying coming to training every single day and learning new things.
“I just want to continue my journey here with us all and keep enjoying my football.”
Villa travel to Poland on the back of a stunning late win over Crystal Palace last weekend.
Trailing 1-0 in the 86th minute, the Villans struck three times in the latter stages of the Premier League encounter to record a superb 3-1 triumph.
Villa displayed plenty of heart, spirit and a never-say-die attitude to come away with all three points, and Konsa says that epitomises the “family” character in the dressing room.
“I think everyone can see since the boss has come in, how much we’ve changed as a team, how together we’ve become," he added.
“I’ve said it previously, we’re like a small family and all we want to do is work hard for each other and show that on the pitch, and that’s what we did on Saturday.”
You can watch Ezri's full interview on VillaTV below...
