Unai Emery spoke to the press at Bodymoor Heath on Friday afternoon, ahead of Aston Villa's Premier League meeting with Ipswich Town this weekend.
The Villans will welcome the Tractor Boys to Villa Park, looking to maintain their strong home record having booked their place in the FA Cup fifth round with a 2-1 win over Tottenham Hotspur last weekend.
Emery met with the local and national media at Villa's training ground to preview the encounter, discussing his late January signings, squad competition and the test of Saturday's visitors.
Read the key lines from his pre-match press conference below...
On having a full week's training...
“We were planning three weeks [free] but we are going to have only two. We have to accept it.
“We are going to play tomorrow, we are going to prepare for next week against Liverpool, against Chelsea. It’s a key moment for us.
“Hopefully, we can get our best performances individually and collectively.”
On Ipswich Town...
“They are performing very well. I appreciate a lot how they are playing, competing.
“The coach really, he is showing us his process and his progress, really being a good impact tactically, and then with the players they have, Delap playing and performing very well.
“Of course, they are in the bottom of the league… but they are competing very well. Tomorrow, I know is going to be a very difficult match and we have to respect them a lot.
“Their idea, tactically try to stop them as well, try to impose and dominate the match like usually we want to do.
“We have to be focused 90 minutes, because it’s going to be a very tough match.”
On late January recruits...
“We will see it. Of course, always we are trying to get better and every decision we are doing in our process here is trying to get better, trying to be demanding in our objective. Of course, if we are being demanding in our objective, we have to work hard.
“I think everything we are doing here, everything we are working, everything we are doing step by step our objective facing, I think we have to be optimistic.
“The players at the beginning [of] the project we had and the players joining us in the process, I think they are showing as well the capacity to get our objective together, and how we are performing.
“The last players that arrived here are with the same idea. Of course, each one, they have their career, their prestige as well, but here, the challenge is now.
“The challenge for the players we joined last month, of course, they are very good players. The challenge we have with them and the challenge they have individually as well with us is a high, high challenge. I am very excited, they are working very well.
“I think the first match we played together last week against Tottenham at home, at Villa Park with our supporters, was a very exciting moment we shared there.
“Tomorrow is again a very good opportunity for the team, for the players, for the supporters, how we can face tomorrow a Premier League match with the players we have and with the idea, style we want to try to get, performing of course but as well trying to transmit something.
“Tomorrow in Villa Park is a really exciting match.”
On squad balance...
“My opinion about how we are doing the process is still being always in balance.
“The balance is because we have to see it in the process we are going to create and to build here. Each match is an opportunity, we can show we are getting stronger or not.
“If we are close to our objective in the demands we have or not. This is the really next challenge I have for the next three and a half months we will play in different competitions, very exciting matches and competitions we have.”
On competition for places...
“When you can feel you are stronger is when you can have some players in the bench really with the performance we are expecting of them to be ready to play.
“We are facing different competitions, and the difficulties we will face for the next month in those three competitions we are in now, it’s really necessary to have players not injured and to have players as well on the bench being ready to substitute other players and being good impact.
“This year, the idea is [to] try to learn about the last two years we were here, how we can get again stronger the second part of the season, with Premier League, Champions League and FA Cup.
“We needed to join some players like we did. Of course we are very motivated with the players we have as well because they are as well feeling comfortable with the players we joined helping us.
“Now, is be competitive, individually, collectively, try to be ready to help the team, playing 90 minutes, playing 70 minutes and sometimes playing even 5, 10, 15 minutes.
“It’s very important, how we can feel stronger.”
Watch Emery's pre-match press conference in full below...
