Aston Villa boss Unai Emery has said the club will be ‘competitive’ in the January transfer window in a bid to boost their ambitions this season.
Villa climbed up to second in the Premier League table after a 3-1 win over Nottingham Forest on Saturday lunchtime.
John McGinn was on target twice for The Villans, following a fiercely hit opener from Ollie Watkins at Villa Park. The win was a 12th in 13 games across all competitions and a perfect response to the club’s midweek defeat at Arsenal.
Villa’s victory saw them climb above Manchester City in the table and within three points of leaders Arsenal. Emery’s side are also now 12 points ahead of fifth-placed Chelsea in the race for Champions League football.
A position in the top four now looks like Villa’s to lose over the run-in, while there remains optimism of a first league title since 1981.
Last season, Villa bolstered their squad in January with the signings of Donyell Malen and loanees Marcus Rashford, Marco Asensio and Axel Disasi. Speaking at full-time, Emery said the club will be active again in a bid to improve.
“The players we have at the club are the most important players. But we are always competitive in the transfer window,” he told Sky Sports.
Asked about the win over Forest, Emery praised his team’s response to their midweek setback and revealed a team meeting was held after the loss at Arsenal.
“I am so happy. We had to recover our energy and our confidence. Here, at Villa Park the energy we create was really important.
“Forest are competitive. After the Arsenal match we met. The players and staff, how we are doing this season, how we are feeling, how we needed to keep the same consistency as before. How we needed to be together and strong.”
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