Unai Emery has challenged Aston Villa to seize the 'huge opportunity' of securing Champions League qualification by beating Burnley on Sunday. The boss will call on his players to quickly refocus from Thursday's high of reaching the Europa League final, as they seek to achieve their primary aim of the season.
Villa will be able to guarantee a top-five finish and stamp their ticket back to the Champions League with a victory at Turf Moor, if Bournemouth fail to win at Fulham on Saturday. Emery's men, who hold a six-point advantage over the Cherries with three matches to play, have lost back-to-back Premier League matches against Fulham and Tottenham. But their confidence should be restored after Thursday's superb win.
Emery said: 'Burnley on Sunday is a huge opportunity to try to get the fifth position definitively. This opportunity is the priority now and is very, very important.'
Villa's players were back at Bodymoor Heath on Friday for a recovery session, with Emery due to make a decision on team selection after training on Saturday. The boss has told players to shelve thoughts of the Europa League final as they first look to take care of business in the Premier League.
Villa could become just the fourth club since 2016 to qualify for the Champions League via league position and win a European trophy in the same season after Manchester City, Chelsea and Liverpool. Emery added: 'A lot of times this season we performed fantastic, playing on Thursday and then on Sunday. It is not an excuse, if someone is getting tired or an injury risk we will try to avoid it. Tomorrow we will see how the players are here in the last training session. My idea is to get the best players for this match. If we want to play in the highest level, we must be ready to play matches on Thursday and Sunday and getting performances, competing with the mentality we need.'
Burnley, already condemned to the Championship after winning just four matches all season, will be managed by interim boss Mike Jackson following Scott Parker's departure last month.
