Aston Villa returned to winning ways at Villa Park with a convincing 4-2 victory over Nottingham Forest.
Goals from Ollie Watkins, Leon Bailey and a Douglas Luiz brace were enough for Unai Emery’s side to pull five points clear of Tottenham in the Champions League places.
Results-wise, it was a largely positive day for Villa after Manchester United suffered a surprise home loss to Fulham.
The one negative was that Pau Torres was forced off at halftime, and Emery has since provided an update on the Spaniard’s fitness.
Unai Emery shares Pau Torres’ fitness update
After the fixture, the Villa boss was optimistic about the defender’s potential injury.
“He had some pain so that’s why we needed to change him. He has a small pain down the back of his leg,” Emery told The Athletic.
“Hopefully, he’s not injured, but we decided not to take the risk with him.
“We will scan him. I think he’s not really injured because he finished the first half but was telling us he was a risk.
“Calum Chambers came on. He’s a very good man. I respect him a lot. Even in the summer, I said let him leave. In the winter, I said let him leave. But he decided to stay here.
“I am including him in everything and today I am very happy for him.”
It was a scintillating performance from Villa, who had far too much for Forest.
It’s undoubtedly an exciting time for the Villa Park faithful, with the Conference League campaign set to kick back into gear at the start of next month.
As for Torres’ injury, seeing the Spaniard once again on the sidelines would compound the current situation.
With Diego Carlos, Ezri Konsa and Tyrone Mings, Emery can ill-afford another defender heading to the treatment room.
Calum Chambers deserves credit. The 29-year-old was close to completing a move away from Villa Park towards the end of the January window. Now, the former Arsenal man could be set to partner Clement Lenglet against Luton Town next weekend.
