Aston Villa manager Unai Emery says his side “are in the race for the second part of the season” after a 2-2 draw at home to Brighton.
Goals from Ollie Watkins and Morgan Rogers put Villa ahead but a fine low shot from Tariq Lamptey secured a point for the Seagulls.
It means Villa enter 2025 in ninth place – but only six points off the top four.
Your support has been sensational throughout 2024, thank you Villans 💜 pic.twitter.com/QW6oXZJHAU
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Emery said: “I have to accept the result but I am a little bit frustrated with it. The table is very tight but we are in the race for the second part of the season.
“We are ninth in the table and we have to try to start again against Leicester. We finish the first part of the season with 29 points, it’s not the best but not the worst.
“This league is very tight and we have to try to improve and correct why we are conceding a lot of goals. We started the second half perfectly when scoring goals and creating chances. We created enough chances to score and win the match.”
Torres injury
Villa lost defender Pau Torres to injury just 20 minutes in, with Emery worried the Spaniard may have broken his foot.
“I think it’s not a big injury but I think he maybe broke his metatarsal, maybe,” Emery said.
“We have players to replace him but he is very important. Tomorrow will confirm the injury he has.”
