Aston Villa head coach Unai Emery has expressed confidence that his team is ready to vie for major trophies as they gear up to face Bologna in their third Champions League fixture of the season.
The Birmingham-based club has emerged victorious in both of their Champions League matches so far, marking their return to European football’s top-tier competition for the first time since the 1982-83 season.
"I don't want to waste my time here, that is my message. You can't waste your time here," Emery stated during a press conference on Monday.
"My objective here is to keep the same level we have now, Champions League and add more to be contenders for titles.
"This is the message, we love football, we love our work and we want to be successful."
Villa Park is set to host its second Champions League match — the tournament was renamed from the European Cup at the start of the 1992 season — following Jhon Durán's remarkable winning goal against Bayern Munich in their previous outing.
Emery emphasized that he doesn't want his team to be just participants and reiterated his ambition for the club to qualify for the competition consistently.
"We want to achieve the objectives and one of them is to play in the Champions League. It is not about playing there only because of some circumstances -- I want to us to stay there for a long time," the Spanish coach said.
"But it is difficult. Maybe sometimes you can have some problems or struggle in our way, but you have to be resilient. We want to be strong in the idea in our mind and create a strong mentality to always break barriers.
"We can believe, working like we are doing, we can keep it. This is my challenge, this is my objective now.”
Swansea City and Jamal Lowe are set to reconnect on Tuesday, with Luke Williams indicating that “most” clubs in the Championship would be pleased to have the forward on their team.
Last season, Lowe was a joint top scorer for Swansea, finding the net nine times in 35 appearances, including 24 starts, after returning to the club on loan from Bournemouth.
After becoming a free agent over the summer, Williams had previously hinted in April that Swansea might consider offering the Jamaica international a permanent contract.
Lowe, who celebrated his 30th birthday in July, ultimately signed with Sheffield Wednesday on a free transfer.
Williams expressed his willingness to have retained the former Wigan and Portsmouth player, stating, “I think most Championship squads would be very pleased to have Jamal Lowe.”
“However, you can’t have everything, and we are content with our current squad. We’re also really glad that Jamal has found a club where he can play regular football.
“Not everything is perfect in life, but I think, in the end, it was a good solution for both sides.
”So far this season, Lowe has scored twice in nine appearances for the Owls, with his only league goal coming on the opening weekend.
“He is a very gifted player, we know that,” Williams added. “He is very creative, possesses good physicality, and can be difficult to handle. But we also have several players in our squad who have experience playing with him, so hopefully, that gives us a better chance to cope with him.
“We look forward to seeing him because he is a great guy, but we hope he has a quiet game.”
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