Aston Villa boss Unai Emery says a grueling preseason has been important for his players.

Emery wants his players to be ready for the Europa Conference League this season.

After victory at Valencia, he explained: “We are going to play this year, hopefully, a lot of matches," he said.

“The Conference League is an objective as well but the Premier League is the first competition we are going to face. We have to be fit and make everyone aware that hopefully it's going to be a long season.

“We are going to play a lot of matches, playing on Thursday and then on Sunday, with FA Cup and Carabao Cup. We did pre-season thinking that we have to work on different things tactically, and we did it.

“We were practicing some tactical decisions and some we are taking really well but others we have to continue learning, improving and taking more information.

“Overall, I'm very happy. We have to be ready and have everyone very excited with our supporters for the first match in Newcastle.

“It's our objective now to start our season in the best way possible."