Aston Villavs.Chelsea

After finishing in the top eight of the League Phase, Villa earned automatic entry into the last 16 of the competition in their debut campaign.

On Friday morning, the Premier League outfit were paired with Club Brugge, the first leg taking place in Belgium before the reverse fixture being held at Villa Park a week later.

Villa are no strangers to Club Brugge having suffered a 1-0 defeat on away territory during the League Phase, a calamitous Tyrone Ming mistake proving pivotal on that occasion.

Despite the disappointment previously experienced against Nicky Hayen's side, Emery feels that the tie could prove to be a blessing in disguise.

"We have good information"

Speaking to reporters at a press conference, Emery said: "Happy we are in the last 16, and happy with the draw, but every team they are in the last 16 deserve to be there.

"Of course, we played against Brugge and we knew their capacity to compete like they are doing usually. They beat Atalanta as well.

"Losing there 1-0 is good information for us, how we have to compete, to respect, to prepare, to try to avoid the mistakes we made.

"But, really happy because we are going to enjoy this moment with our supporters, and we are going to compete when it's arriving. But, now we have to focus on Chelsea."

Villa injury update ahead of Chelsea

Villa head into Saturday's clash with Chelsea still having to contend with a number of injury issues, yet Emery has hinted that Ezri Konsa may be in a position to return to the squad.

The Spaniard added: "He did the composition work with the players. I will test him and in case he is feeling good he will be in the squad. Konsa could be with us in the squad."

Emery confirmed that Ross Barkley, Boubacar Kamara and Amadou Onana would not be available for selection at a time when loanee Axel Disasi is unable to face his parent club.

Victory for Villa would take them within one point of their sixth-placed opponents in the Premier League table.

Written by

Darren Plant