Matty Cash is excited and ready for Aston Villa Europa Conference League group stage campaign to begin in Poland.
Thursday’s match against Legia Warszawa, runners-up in the Estraklasa last season, is particularly significant for the Polish international.
But during his pre-match press conference, he said his focus was on the game as Villa look to make a strong start in Group E.
“I don't think it matters what cup competition we play in or the Premier League, every game we play we want to win. Not just in Europe this season but in the other cup competitions too,” he said.
“We want to go as far as we can and that's the chat we've had between ourselves and with the manager. Every game we go out there wanting to win, no matter who we are playing. Europe gives us a great opportunity to do that as well.”
He added: “The manager has great experience in European football which helps massively. We have a few boys who haven't played in Europe before, like myself.
“Then we have other boys who have played in European competitions and have loads of experience. But most of all we have a lot of players who desperately want to do well in Europe.”
The 26-year-old’s experiences with the national team since his first cap in November 2021 have given him an idea of what to expect on Thursday night.
And Cash is expecting nothing less than a tough encounter against Legia.
He said: “I’ve played there and I've trained on the pitch a few times with Poland too. Our base is right next to the stadium with Poland, so I know it very well.
"I know what to expect. The fans there are crazy, to be fair to them they are brilliant and they deserve our respect. I'm looking forward to it and see it as a really good opportunity for us.”
Cash added: "I know a few things about Legia who are obviously one of the biggest teams in Poland. They are a good team who have a massive fanbase, which is really good.
"It will be a difficult game for sure and we'll have to prepare well, which I'm sure we will do this week. The manager will have people go over everything about them with us. It was good to go into Thursday's game on the back of an important victory.”
