Emery relieved to see Villa finally break rough spell

Unai Emery felt his Aston Villa side restored confidence by returning to winning ways with a 3-1 victory over Brentford in the Premier League.

Morgan Rogers' fourth goal of the season, an Ollie Watkins penalty and Matty Cash’s finish put Villa 3-0 up after 34 minutes.

Mikkel Damsgaard pulled one back for Brentford in the second half but the damage had been done as Villa ended their eight-match winless run in all competitions.

Emery was relieved to end the unwanted streak but quickly turned his attention to the next fixture against Southampton on Saturday.

"We broke a spell of bad results we were having," the Villa boss said.

"We started the first five or 10 minutes not in control of the game but then progressively we controlled.

"Today we achieved those three points and it has given us confidence again but even like that it’s not enough. We have to keep going and think about the next match against Southampton on Saturday.

"The message was try to focus on each match, try to forget the table. How we can recover confidence and feel comfortable at home. Today was a fantastic match."

Tyrone Mings returned to the starting line-up in the Premier League for the first time since August 2023.

Emery admitted it has been a long road back for the 31-year-old and is pleased to have him back.

He added: "Mings played in the Champions league but it’s the first time in the league for a year and three months.

"I think he played fantastic – he might be tired tomorrow but will be ready for Saturday again.

"It was very, very long, the injury he had. His comeback is fantastic for him and everybody, for the doctor and physio and now he’s training everyday."

Brentford fell to a sixth away defeat from seven games and have picked up only a solitary point on