Unai Emery reveals plan for Marcus Rashford after Aston Villa beat Brighton | Football

Unai Emery says he is planning to play Marcus Rashford up front with Ollie Watkins before the Manchester United forward ends his loan spell with Aston Villa.

Rashford struck twice in the win over Preston North End in the FA Cup last weekend and followed that up with the opening goal in Villa’s 3-0 win away to Brighton in the Premier League on Wednesday night.

The on-loan United forward now has three goals and four assists since joining Villa and has looked a rejuvenated player since leaving Old Trafford in the January transfer window.

Watkins started the game against Brighton on the bench with Rashford deployed as Villa’s central striker. but Emery says he is keen to see the pair play together in attack.

‘Keep going is the message for him,’ Emery told Sky Sports when asked about Rashford’s recent performances.

‘Playing more minutes means he’s getting physically better, he’s scoring more goals. We’re playing him as a striker and trying to compete with Watkins. Maybe going forward we can play them together.

‘Try to exploit his [Rashford’s] qualities. He’s in the best confidence moment.

‘On Sunday we planned to play him as a striker and he scored two goals so I decided to go again and he scored.’

In a separate interview with BBC Sport, Emery was asked if Rashford can reach his top level at Villa.

‘This is the challenge he has,’ Emery said.

‘And the challenge we have in our squad, signing him for those months, of course, he’s getting better, feeling confident, as well getting the understanding of our style, our demands, how difficult it is to face each team in each competition.

‘Of course, his qualities, his skills are very important in the squad. Scoring goals, assists, we have the combination with the players, they are understanding better, each match we are playing for him is very important.’

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