Aston Villa told to focus on football not feuds ahead of Brentford rematch
Unai Emery has told Villa’s players to focus on football and forget settling scores when they face Brentford on Saturday.
The first meeting between the clubs in December has been dubbed one of the dirtiest matches in Premier League history, with both having a player sent-off and referee David Coote issuing a further 10 yellow cards.
Two mass player confrontations late in Villa’s 2-1 win led to the clubs being fined a combined £355,000 by the FA, with Emery later holding a meeting with his players to impress the importance of maintaining discipline.
Goalkeeper Emi Martinez was also spoken to after becoming involved in two flashpoints with Brentford striker Neal Maupay, the second of which led to Villa midfielder Boubacar Kamara being dismissed for shoving Yehor Yarmoliuk in the face.
Villa are known to have been unhappy with the conduct of their opponents at the time but now nearly four months on, Emery does not want any lingering bad blood to impact on their push for a top four finish.
The Villa boss, himself booked at the GTech Stadium as he attempted to play peacemaker: said: “Some circumstances we had there, we completely forget it. We are ready and want to focus on our game plan.
“Football is a lot of things you have to manage. The control of your emotions, control our power-playing, focusing tactically offensively and defensively.
“If they are demanding us, playing with duels, we’ll try to do that but we are going to play football. Nothing more. I’m going to respect them.
“The message to the players is focus on the gameplan, try to impose ourselves and dominate the match.
Though Villa have suffered another injury blow with Jacob Ramsey ruled out for the rest of the season, Emery does have John McGinn back available after the skipper completed a three-match ban following his red card in last month’s 4-0 defeat to Tottenham.
“John is a very competitive man,” said Emery. “He likes playing in every match. He was rested but he played with his national team.
“Of course, we want him on the pitch. His energy is very important off the pitch. He’s always positive. His message is not always with words but playing and practising and shows how he plays.”
