Aston Villa manager Unai Emery is expecting a tough contest against Nottingham Forest.
The Spaniard made a point of praising Oliver Glasner's work and acknowledged that his teams have consistently struggled against the Austrian tactician.
Emery remarked:
We know each other very well, having faced Nottingham Forest several times in the Premier League, and last season in the Europa League too.
The new manager is also trying to implement his structure and ideas. He is an excellent coach, having done a fantastic job at Crystal Palace and before that in Germany. He is a successful and highly competitive manager. It’s always tough for us to play against Glasner.
Therefore, I expect a very challenging match. We need to stick to our plan for all 90 minutes, show resilience when required, continuously strive to improve our game, adapt to our opponent, and compete as we ought to. We respect Nottingham Forest as a club and a team, and we hold their manager in high regard.
Emery also spoke about Aston Villa's progress in training, admitting that so far the squad hasn't been able to fully translate that work into competitive matches:
Yes, there is progress, but it’s clear that we’re not fully showcasing that on the pitch during matches. Not everything that happens in training can be put into words, but that training should help us display our best football in games.
Everything we've been working on needs to manifest on the pitch against Forest. We’re entering a phase with three matches a week. With this schedule, there’s less time for training; recovery is essential, and we must simultaneously try to integrate new players.
We are in this process, but now it’s time to show how much we've improved on the field.
