Hemmings reflects on Jakarta trip

George Hemmings reflected positively on the first leg of Aston Villa’s pre-season tour of Asia, after a comfortable win over Indonesia All Stars on Saturday.

Unai Emery’s men triumphed 3-1 at GBK Main Stadium in Jakarta, thanks to goals from Emi Buendía, Ross Barkley and Brian Madjo.

Hemmings – who played 45 minutes in the first friendly of the tour, discussed the game and how he and his teammates had to combat the heat and humidity in Indonesia.

“I think tonight’s game was good,” he said.

“Something to build on, definitely. Good start to pre-season, and we need to keep going.

“Definitely hard (the heat). Sweating a lot, obviously, but we just need to make sure we’re hydrating for the games. You need to prepare.”

The Villans now move on to Bangkok, where they take on BG Pathum United on Tuesday (August 4, ko 1.30pm BST).

Hemmings reflected more generally on how Jakarta has treated he and the rest of the squad, and how much he is now looking forward to the second leg of the trip.

He added: “It’s been great. It’s good to get out of the country and go to new places I haven’t been before.

“The culture here is good, and the people here have really made (us) feel welcome.

“I’m looking forward to it (Bangkok). It’s going to be a good game, something more to build on, again. We just need to keep going.”

Watch Hemmings' post-match interview with VillaTV in full by clicking below...