Unai Emery told the media what he learned from Aston Villa’s defeat to Nottingham Forest

Unai Emery has admitted that Aston Villa must improve away from home if they are to remain in contention for a place in the Champions League.

Villa entered Sunday’s Premier League match at Nottingham Forest as one of the division’s form teams, with a chance to move into the top four.

However, the West Midlands outfit put in one of their worst performances of the season, conceding goals at the start of each half to fall 2-0 at the City Ground.

While Villa had chances in the final third, they lacked their usual cutting edge and drew a blank against opponents who had not won since the beginning of September.

Emery’s team is still in fifth place, five points behind leaders Manchester City, and four points ahead of eighth place.

Nonetheless, the Spaniard has admitted that he and his players must learn from their poor performance, with the Villa manager especially eager to identify ways to improve their results on the road.

Emery told BBC Sport: “We started the match very poorly, but we reacted well, and we had chances and opportunities to score.” We got off to a bad start in the second half, and it’s difficult to come back from a 2-0 deficit. The players fought until the last second to score, but we were unable to do so. Of course, losing is difficult, but we must accept it.

“We have to understand that every match is critical for us.” We must be strong to maintain our defensive ability and score points by working together. We made two errors early in each half, making it difficult to recover.

“We won 11 games in a row at home, which is fantastic.” Away from home, it’s a challenge. Today I learned something new. We are calm and relaxed, but we must be stronger defensively away from home and work hard if we are to become one of the Premier League’s top seven teams.

“I learn when we win, I learn when we tie, and I learn when we lose.” It’s been a year since I moved here. We’ve made strides and put in a lot of effort, and I’m proud of the players, but I want more. The next challenge for me is to raise my level.”

Villa have now only collected seven points from their six top-flight away games in 2023-24, scoring only six goals.

Villa’s next Premier League match is at home against Fulham on November 12, three days after hosting AZ Alkmaar in the Europa Conference League.