Aston Villa boss keen to move on

The boss appeared in philosophical mood after watching his team lose 3-1 in the FA Cup fourth round replay.

Below-par Villa were two goals down after 21 minutes after Conor Gallagher and Nico Jackson netted for the visitors.

Enzo Fernandez then sealed the tie with a stunning free-kick before Moussa Diaby bagged a late consolation.

Emery conceded his team had been sloppy in possession but felt the match hinged on their failure to finish early chances with the match at 0-0.

“We started well and didn’t score,” he said. “We were feeling good but when they got in our box or breaking our press they affected us and got in our box with some crosses and they were clinical with scoring goals.

“I was more or less feeling the match was the difference between the clinical way between them and us in the box.

“We lost more balls than normal. Sometimes the performances of the players could be better but I have to keep balance as well.”

Emery also defended his decision to delay making changes as the match ebbed away from Villa.

The boss made his first substitutions with 19 minutes remaining and admitted he already had one eye on Sunday’s Premier League visit of Manchester United.

He said: “I decided to keep with the same players because I have to get confidence and try and get minutes playing together.

“The subs made a good impact. Ramsey played well but I want to keep him because he keeps getting injuries and not recovering 100 per cent and I decided only to play him the minutes he played.

“Diaby scored and that’s good for him but I decided in the time I did because it was not relevant for the result I thought we could come back with the players we were playing.

“I was thinking about the management of the players, thinking about not just the match today but the next matches.”