Unai Emery was in front of the cameras for his pre-match press conference on Friday afternoon.
Aston Villa's head coach joined the media to preview his side's trip to Nottingham Forest this weekend as they look to maintain their fine form in the Premier League.
Here's what he had to say...
On Emi Martínez’s importance to Villa…
“As a person he’s very competitive in all his career. When he came here to the Premier League 12 years ago, he’s progessively improved a lot. His mentality is really brilliant.
“He always wants to improve individually and collectively with the team. I knew him at Arsenal and he’s always challenging to get something important for the club.
“He is still being very demanding of himself. Winning this award is magnificent for him, and for us we can be very proud of him – all Aston Villa workers, fans.”
On his desire to keep improving…
“I have to be in good balance when we are winning and when we are losing. I have to be very clinical in my analysis of how we can improve and never be relaxed because we are always facing very difficult matches.
“On Sunday, it’s the same. I don’t want to stop and I want to continue progressing. I want to be very demanding with each player in every match we are going to face.
“We have to try to connect with our supporters and try to play for them. It’s important to be focused on each match and try to be ambitious in our focus, in how we can improve, in how we can get the three points on Sunday and how we can keep our position in the table.”
On Moussa Diaby…
“In his adaptation it’s still important to support him and try to practice with him and his teammates in the idea we are trying to create.
“He’s in this process. When he’s scoring and playing matches, we are getting good performances and we are very happy.
“He can improve, he can play better and he is doing well but I want to support him and try to demand more from him because he can do it.”
On playing Nottingham Forest…
“I didn’t play there last year; we arrived after they played there. I have been asking the coaches, asking the players about how difficult the match will be on Sunday.
“Always in Nottingham it’s very difficult for every team. From the coaches and players that have played there I know it’s difficult. It’s a fantastic atmosphere there for them and the supporters are pushing a lot and trying to support their players.
“We have to be ready and facing this match thinking about how we can play better away. We are playing very well at home and being very competitive at home and winning.
“Away we are not being consistent like I want. We have to improve and we can play better. This is the challenge: we can play better, we can be more competitive.”
