On the test Aston Villa will pose…
“[It will be] a severe one. They’re good. They were good last season. They finished seventh and got into European competition for the first time in a long while, a great achievement.
“They’ve started this season well also and strengthened their team with two or three really important signings which has made them even stronger.
“Like so many other Premier League teams we meet, they’re there to be not only respected but feared because of what they’re capable of doing, so one has to prepare one’s own team as best as one can so that nothing they do is going to catch us completely by surprise, but we still have to deal with the quality of their players.”
On the September international break...
“We’ve seen next to nothing of the international players this time because, of course, the England game was on a Tuesday night, so they only came back, the ones with England, on Thursday.
“Worse still, some of the players who played in Africa and America and South America came back even later than that, but so not alone in that situation so it’s not a complaint, it’s just a statement of fact.
“We’ve had two good weeks, really, with the players we’ve had here. They’ve worked very hard and we’re happy with the training we’ve been able to do. Our situation isn’t really different to the bulk of the other Premier League teams.
“Everyone’s had to accept where players who don’t always get in the first-team straight away have had the chance to poke their head above the parapet and show what they can do, so in that respect, it’s been good.
“It would have been nice if Marc [Guéhi] and Jefferson [Lerma] hadn’t had to miss this game and could declare themselves available, but we’re still happy with the team we’re putting out and the two weeks’ work we’ve been able to do.”
On his players’ success internationally…
“It’s very good when players come back having had success [for their national teams] because especially, if it’s a player like Chris Richards, who hasn’t had many opportunities with us since he got back to full fitness, for him to play two virtually full matches for America is a great advantage.
“For people like Ebere Eze to get a chance to play like he did against Scotland in such an important fixture, and for Marc Guéhi to do as well as he did in our games, they’ve got to be advantages.
“As far as Jordan Ayew, Jefferson Lerma and Cheick Doucouré are concerned, they are such fixtures in their national teams that it’s somewhat less surprising if they come back having played.”
