Unai Emery gives Marcus Rashford position stance after another Aston Villa impact

Rashford followed up his brace in Sunday’s FA Cup win at Preston with the opener at the Amex Stadium, with Villa going on to claim a 3-0 victory which boosted their hopes of securing a top-five finish in the Premier League.

The 27-year-old had been used as a winger since joining from Manchester United in the transfer window but has benefited from the switch to a central position.

While Emery has not ruled out moving him back out wide, he says Rashford is now also competing against Watkins at centre-forward, with the latter left on the bench for the second match running.

Emery said: “We are trying to identify so quick how we can compete with these players, better and better.”

“Marcus Rashford today playing again second match as a striker, getting confidence, getting goals.

“Now we have to support as well Ollie Watkins, to compete with Marcus to help the team as a striker.

“The next step we can try, if we have team, is to play with both. But I think we have very good news inside with players showing their commitment to try to get their best. We will need it for the next weeks.”

Wednesday’s win, which saw Villa move to within two points of fifth place, was the perfect demonstration of the squad’s strength in depth with Marco Asensio and Donyell Malen coming off the bench to seal the win.

But it was Rashford who again grabbed the headlines, after racing on to Morgan Rogers’ long pass before lifting a finish over keeper Bart Verbruggen.

Emery said: “When we were analysing him firstly, how he played before and how he performed before, we were open to playing both positions, as a winger and a striker.

“It depends on each moment. Today he played as a striker because on Sunday he scored two goals and I decided to carry on with the same position.

“He can play as well in the left side. But the most important is how he is feeling, how he is recovering confidence himself, playing football and being focused on only football, being with his team-mates comfortable as well.

“Everything with him is progressively getting better, the same with Marco Asensio. Malen is going slowly a little bit because he is playing less minutes but today he scored and it is fantastic for the team.”