After the highs of the FA Cup on Sunday, Aston Villa are back in Premier League action on Wednesday night.
A trip to Brighton & Hove Albion awaits for Unai Emery's team, and the manager spoke to reporters to preview the game.
Here are the key lines from his press conference...
On an exciting April schedule…
“We’re excited and demanding ourselves to be focused for the last two months in three competitions. We’re motivated to get our best performances collectively and try to reduce a lot of goals that we conceded.
“In the last matches, we are getting better. Tomorrow is a very good test again for how we can be more consistent, playing at the level we want to achieve and in the level we are getting at the end of the season to play in the Premier League and achieve top seven, top five.
“There are a lot of teams there fighting for these positions. In the FA Cup we’re playing a semi-final and in the Champions League a quarter-final – it’s amazing how we are facing the last part of the season.
“We are aware of the difficulties we are going to face and how much we are going to have to get better.”
On finding consistency with five straight wins…
“A lot of different circumstances we had this season - sometimes injuries, sometimes not getting our performances individually is the reality (behind inconsistency). At the beginning of the season, we had some players, important players for us, who weren’t fit.
“We are recovering some injured players, and I think the players are physically well. I don’t want to waste time with my decisions, with the players – everybody is ready and focused.
“Now, it’s 100% football. It’s the last two months and our target is clear. We have a lot of motivation for it but the players have to be very focused in the same way we are trying to set.”
On the battle for European positions…
“Thirty-eight matches is when you are finishing and the table is fair for everybody. We are in the last part of the season and every point we achieved and lost before, now is the moment we have to identify how we are, focus on every match and the reality that Brighton have two points [more than us] in a European position.
“To get Conference League, Europa League or Champions League is the consequences of how we are doing in the season. Brighton are there now and tomorrow is three points for them, three points for us or one point for each team.
“We’re going to try and prepare the match to face the match thinking to achieve the three points. We’re respecting them and being very demanding with how we can achieve it.”
On Fabian Hürzeler…
“He was fantastic as well in Germany, and now they are progressively getting better. I think they are in their best moment.
“They lost against Nottingham Forest on Saturday, which was difficult and hard for them. In the Premier League, they are performing very, very well.
“The last matches they played at home against Bournemouth, Fulham, away at Manchester City, Newcastle, they were playing fantastic.
“Our test is a huge test to show how we can face them and impose or dominate the match against one team in very good form.”
