Aston Villa right-back Matty Cash spoke to the media ahead of the club's Europa League clash against Bologna in Italy
Aston Villa right-back Matty Cash
Aston Villa right-back Matty Cash(Image: Ryan Browne/Shutterstock)
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Matty Cash insists Aston Villa will play to beat Bologna on Thursday night, but he expects a difficult challenge at the Stadio Renato Dall'Ara.
Villa beat Bologna 1-0 earlier this season, and 2-0 in the Champions League last term, yet Thursday's match will be the first they've played in Italy for over 31 years.
The Serie A side have only won two of their last 14 home matches, losing half of those games in that time, but are on an 11-match unbeaten run in Europe since losing at Villa Park back in September.
“It’s two legs and 180 minutes. A lot can happen, coming away to a place like this,” Cash said in the press conference.
“We have come here to win and do all we can to put ourselves in a good position for next week. We are here to win, respecting them, but we are here to get our business done.
“They are a really, really good team. Really good man to man. Really strong. Skorupski [goalkeeper] is injured at the minute, and I have spoken to him before in [the Poland] camp before previous games.
“The fixtures after we played them, I don’t think that they have lost, so they have been really good in Europe since we played them.”
Cash will need to quickly get over the disappointment of failing to qualify for the World Cup with Poland, after missing out to Sweden in a play-off last week.
“Disappointing, but I sort of try to switch off from Villa, and then switch off from Poland,” Cash explained. “Missing out on the World Cup is not great, but everyone in the Poland team gave a good account of ourselves. Now back at Villa, we are trying to switch off from that now.
He added: “It’s been a while since we have been together as a group. Everyone went away and did different things. We have had a few sessions together and nearly a full week’s training.
“The full focus is on tomorrow’s game and to get the manager’s thinking for tomorrow.
“I think it is good to change the scenery up. The boys who didn't go away had a rest. We have a massive month and a bit coming up.
“All the hard work in the season all matters now. The next month is really important to how we finish strong.”
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