Following Aston Villa's 3-2 victory over Red Bull Salzburg in the UEFA Europa League, Villa manager Unai Emery gave an interview to Aston Villa TV and multiple media outlets.
"George played 45 minutes, and Jamal and Kadan both got 20 or 30 minutes on the pitch," Emery told Villa TV after the match.
"I think we need to make a plan for them while also considering their development needs. Sometimes, we have to give them game time like we did today.
Today was a great opportunity for them. Of course, when we were trailing, we gave them the chance to play, and Kadan and Jamal provided an assist and a goal respectively.
I think this is a fantastic thing for both the club and the young players. It helps us understand how close they are to being part of our first team.
I think we shared a little with the fans today – the importance of our youth academy, and how vital young players are to our team."
On another glittering European night under the lights at Villa Park (B6), Emery lauded the team's resilient spirit to come from behind and win again, and thanked the Villa Park fans for their tremendous support.
"This match was a tough battle from start to finish. We wanted to win in our own way and take control of the game. Of course, we also crave to win trophies, enjoy the matches, and share the passion with our fans.
We did that because we won today, and after falling 0-2 behind, we fought back with great energy and created thrilling moments together with the fans.
The way we finally secured the victory was absolutely brilliant. We shared everything with the fans, passing our energy on to them, and they sent their emotions right back to us in return.
This is how we want to fight here, in this competition, at Villa Park, with our fans – to throw ourselves into this tournament with great determination, and today was a perfect day to achieve that."
When asked if he expected Morgan Elliott to remain at Villa after the January transfer deadline on Monday, Emery said:
“Nothing has changed. I said yesterday that his situation is unchanged. He played today and was a huge help to us.”
Meanwhile, Villa striker Ollie Watkins was forced off the pitch with a hamstring strain. He is likely to join the injured John McGinn and Youri Tielemans on the sidelines, while Boubacar Kamara has already been ruled out for the rest of the season.
