Unai Emery confident Aston Villa can cope without injured star | OneFootball

Unai Emery says Aston Villa have enough midfield options to absorb the loss of Amadou Onana for Thursday’s Europa League semi-final second leg against Nottingham Forest.

According to ExpressAndStar.com, the Belgium international is out with a calf problem picked up in last week’s first leg at the City Ground. John McGinn has returned to training after missing the 2-1 defeat to Tottenham with a tight hamstring. Onana’s absence, the club’s record £50 million signing, poses a selection puzzle.

Lamare Bogarde has struggled while deputising in the past two league games, so Emery could turn to Douglas Luiz or use McGinn deeper. He said he remains confident, noting Villa have coped previously without Boubacar Kamara, Onana, Youri Tielemans and even McGinn, and that there are different midfield choices available.

Villa have practised penalties in case the tie goes to a shoot-out. Emery, a four-time Europa League winner, has won his last five semi-finals and his only knockout defeat in the competition came against Atletico Madrid when he was Valencia coach.

This is his third attempt to reach a final with Villa, after Conference League and FA Cup semi-final exits in the past two seasons. He argued that missing out on silverware would not be failure, stressing the aim is continual improvement. He put their trophy chances at 25% before the first leg and said that figure, and their roughly 50% chance of making the final, might now be lower after starting behind, adding that every competition and opponent must be respected.

Source: ExpressAndStar.com