Marvelous Nakamba maintains positive Aston Villa outlook

Villa head to Brighton tomorrow night for a Carabao Cup third round tie before hosting Burnley in the Premier League on Saturday.

That is a fixture which has taken on greater importance in the wake of their 3-2 defeat at the Emirates, where they twice led against a home team that had been reduced to 10 men.

Nakamba believes it is imperative they stay positive. He said: "We are good enough to get results against the big teams. Now is the time to believe in ourselves. It's now the time to do it.”

Zimbabwe international Nakamba, an £10.5million summer signing, accepts Villa must learn from Sunday’s defeat.

The 25-year-old agreed with boss Dean Smith’s assessment that his team sat back too much and invited pressure.

"As a team, the manager believed in us, he kept encouraging us and giving us the belief we needed,” said Nakamba.

"But we're disappointed because we didn't do everything we were told by our gaffer

"Our game plan worked for a period because we got the goals that put us ahead.

"But unfortunately it was hard at the end.

"We didn't keep our shape or stick to our game plan towards the end of the second half and that's what made it easy for Arsenal.

"If we finished the way we started, it would have been the other way around.

"The gaffer kept on believing in us, but we didn't do everything the gaffer wanted.”

Smith has confirmed Douglas Luiz’s absence from Sunday’s matchday squad was not due to injury.

The Brazil under-23 captain had featured in all five of Villa’s Premier League games to that point.

Smith said: "I had a decision to make. Trezeguet came back and I had Conor Hourihane and Henri Lansbury available.

"I was pleased with Marvelous Nakamba's performance against West Ham, and just felt I didn't need three midfielders on the bench.”