Unai Emery watched his Aston Villa team play out a 1-1 draw with West Ham United in the Premier League on Sunday.
The club’s manager saw Jacob Ramsey give his side an eighth-minute lead before they proceeded to dominate the first half.
But after failing to find a second goal they were pegged back by the visitors, who levelled via Emerson after 70 minutes.
“We started very well and we were dominating and imposing with our positioning,” Emery reflected.
“We avoided their possibilities to have good chances to score and were defending well.
“But in 90 minutes with only one goal, we had an advantage and it was difficult to keep it. They scored and they drew.
“We missed a little bit some fresh legs and we tried with Jhon Durán, with Malen, with Buendía, but maybe without the central midfielders and central defenders, and with Lucas at centre-back in place of Mings, we were a little bit without the power we usually have.”
Villa’s flow was disrupted when Tyrone Mings limped off late in the first half, with Lucas Digne moving alongside Ezri Konsa in central defence.
Emery explained afterwards why he opted to utilise Digne in that position.
He said: “We have in the squad two players for every position, but Pau Torres is injured and another centre-back, Diego Carlos, left.
“We have a versatile player like Lamare, but Lamare can play as a midfielder or a right-sided centre-back or right-back.
“Left-sided centre-back is more difficult for him because I want to build up with a left-footed player.”