Aston Villa's race for Europe still on says Unai Emery despite Man United defeat

Bruno Fernandes scored the only goal as United inflicted Villa’s first defeat since February 18 and deliver a setback to their hopes of a return to European competition.

But Emery was keen to quickly refocus on Saturday’s short trip to Wolves, where his team will look to bounce back.

He said: “We lost today one opportunity in the five matches we had left. There is still an opportunity to get a European place and we are going to try the next match against Wolverhampton to get some points.

“We have to win matches and take points. If we win matches we will have a chance but we are only going to think about the next match, against Wolves. We are excited by the opportunity.

“You have to keep winning. That is the next step we have.”

Emery admitted disappointment at Villa’s performance, after they failed to score for the first time in his reign. Ezri Konsa had their best opportunity but could not convert from close range in the closing stages.

“I’m a little bit disappointed. A little bit,” said Emery. “The result is fair. They deserved to win but when the result is 1-0 you have chances in the 90 minutes to score and we did.

“But we have to reduce the distance between Aston Villa and Manchester United to take more opportunities to win here.

“I am happy in our process. The match gave us information for how we can face matches like this in the future and try to impose our gameplan. We could have done better.”