Ollie Watkins and Emi Martinez will be included in the squad. Watkins came off against Wolves with a hamstring injury and missed Wednesday’s 4-1 defeat at Manchester City while Martinez pulled out late on with a bug. Emery confirmed: “Emi and Ollie, they are included in the squad for tomorrow. Tomorrow we will know if they are available.”
Jacob Ramsey is out for the rest of the season with a toe problem. The manager added on Friday: “Ramsey has some problems in his toe. He is not going to be available for the rest of the season.”
Boubacar Kamara and Ben Mee were sent off in Villa’s 2-1 win in west London in December with Neal Maupay and Emi Martinez involved in a confrontation. Brentford and Villa were fined a collective £355,000 by the Football Association after two melees. Emery remarked: “It’s different circumstances, tomorrow we are at home, although there are the same players and coaches. We want to play tomorrow thinking about our game plan, respecting Brentford a lot because they are a very good team. We are ready for tomorrow and trying to focus on our game plan completely.”
Emery is also aware of the threat Brentford carry: “They are being aggressive, pressing man by man, and we will prepare the match trying to get our best performances. The last (home) game against Wolves I was a little bit demanding with the team because we need to get more out of everything. We won and we were happy with the three points but tomorrow will be difficult if we are not improving some things.”
Villa are going for their best finish since 1997, when they came fifth under Brian Little. They hold an 11-point lead over Manchester United in sixth and are two points ahead of fifth placed Tottenham. Emery added: “We have an opportunity to rise and be a contender more than we were before. The teams we are facing are stronger than us, they have more power to get there. We have to be intelligent and demanding, working better than others. This is the only way I know and I am really focused trying to do it.”
