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The latest from Unai Emery on Emiliano Martinez and Marco Asensio after the pair missed Aston Villa’s 1-0 win at Brentford.
Unai Emery has confirmed Emiliano Martinez and Marco Asensio were absent for Aston Villa’s 1-0 victory over Brentford due to minor injury concerns.
The head coach felt it wasn’t worth risking Martinez and Asensio against the Bees with such a significant fixture coming up on Wednesday, against Club Brugge in the second leg of the Champions League last 16. Villa may have the 3-1 aggregate advantage going into that clash but it’s anything but a finished job with Brugge more than capable of turning around the deficit.
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BirminghamWorld revealed before the Brentford match that Martinez and Asensio hadn’t travelled with the Villa squad to the Gtech Community Stadium due to injuries sustained at the tail-end of this week. Robin Olsen instead started in goal for the Villans, while Morgan Rogers was given the nod as the number 10 with Leon Bailey out on the right flank.
Unai Emery has provided injury updates for Aston Villa duo Emi Martinez and Marco AsensioUnai Emery has provided injury updates for Aston Villa duo Emi Martinez and Marco Asensio
Unai Emery has provided injury updates for Aston Villa duo Emi Martinez and Marco Asensio | Getty Images
Olsen had a shaky start as he was lucky not to give away an indirect free-kick by picking up what looked like a back-pass from Axel Disasi. The Swede got away with it, though, and sured up as the game went on, making important saves to deny Kevin Schade, Yoanne Wissa and Keane Lewis-Potter. In the end, Olsen claimed a deserved clean sheet.
As much as it was a triumphant performance from the backup goalkeeper, Villa will be desperate to welcome back Martinez for their vital Champions League clash. The same can be said for world-class attacking midfielder Asensio, who has remarkably scored five times in his first seven appearances for Villa, averaging a goal every 67.6 minutes.
Once Emery had marvelled at his side’s victory over Brentford, BirminghamWorld asked for an update on Martinez and Asensio and, although it wasn’t overly conclusive, it sounds like the pair won’t be out for long.
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“They were yesterday…not feeling good,” Emery admitted. “They had some muscle pain, not really so important because we tested them, but they weren’t available to play today. We decided to avoid risk with both. Hopefully they can recover for Wednesday.”
Emery delighted by ‘commitment’
Villa’s win at Brentford was far from straight-forward and on another day the Bees may have been the team claiming maximum points. Thomas Frank’s side were twice denied penalty shouts when Kevin Schade was bundled over by Axel Disasi, while Keane Lewis-Potter struck the post.
Nonetheless, Villa fought hard to hold on for the win and rather significantly a clean sheet. That’s just the fourth shut-out the Villans have managed in their last 28 matches across all competitions. Emery couldn’t be prouder.
"We needed some transition, but it was the match for our defensive position with the players, our commitment defensively to try to get a clean sheet through Olsen,” the head coach added.
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“He did a fantastic job today, and the back-four as well, a fantastic job. We achieved those three points, it is giving us the confidence and the belief in the Premier League to try to continue in fighting for a European position.