Unai Emery Makes Morgan Rogers Admission After Aston Villa Draw at Nottingham Forest
Unai Emery conceded Morgan Rogers may be feeling the pace of his hectic season after the midfielder showed both his best and worst in Sunday's 1-1 draw at Nottingham Forest.
The England international's fierce cross forced home defender Murillo to put through his own net to give Villa the lead at the City Ground. However, Rogers was then guilty of giving away possession in the build-up to Neco Williams' equaliser, before missing a glorious chance to put the visiting team back ahead when he blazed over from just seven yards out.
Rogers' Hectic Season Takes Its Toll
Sunday was the 23-year-old's 100th game for Villa since the start of last season. No other English player has hit the century mark in Europe's top-five leagues. Emery admitted Rogers, who was substituted for the second match running, is sometimes in need of a rest.
He said: "He is having a fantastic season. He is part of everything offensively we have. His quality and his attitude is really fantastic. Sometimes he needs rest because he is playing and playing and playing."
"Today he did a fantastic match and when Emi Buendia came on in his position, he was fantastic too. That is how we want to build in our system, playing one match on Thursday and then on Sunday, being consistent and demanding. In the position today, first played by Morgan Rogers and Buendia. We need a performance over 90 minutes."
Villa's Busy Schedule Ahead
Whether Emery is able to give Rogers much rest is uncertain, with Villa fighting for both a top-five Premier League finish and glory in the Europa League. They return to action on Thursday when they host Bologna in a quarter-final second leg of the latter competition, before then hosting Sunderland next Sunday.
Emery added: "He is able to play three matches in a row in a week. He is able to respond at the level because he is doing it. Sometimes he is being clinical, or not. Sometimes as well maybe he is more tired than other matches."
"Today I felt him, on Thursday as well I changed him after 85 minutes, I was thinking we needed extra work and fresh legs through Buendia and he did it. I am so happy with the performance we got in 90 minutes on the left side in our gameplan. We threatened the opponent from the left-hand side."
Missed Opportunities in the Match
Rogers also hit the bar in the first half at the City Ground and laid on a big chance for Ollie Watkins. The latter himself then skied over after being set up by Buendia with 10 minutes remaining.
Emery concluded: "Of course we had three or four chances to score, and we conceded the momentum to them a few times. One point is not enough, but this is the way we want to play in the next weeks in the Premier League and Europa League."
