Aston Villa forward explains how he recovered from Champions League pain after crucial goal

The Netherlands international scored for the second successive match, netting what proved to the winner as Unai Emery’s men beat Nottingham Forest 2-1 on Saturday to continue their push for a top-five finish.

It capped an excellent week for the £21million January arrival from Borussia Dortmund, who opened his account for the club in a 3-0 win at Brighton.

Villa now face the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final against Paris Saint-Germain but Malen cannot play after being left out of the club’s squad for the competition, with Uefa rules only allowing Emery to add three of his five new signings.

The 25-year-old, speaking for the first time about his omission, explained how it only made him more determined to shine in those competitions for which he is eligible.

Malen said: It’s not the easiest thing. We spoke about it. For me, as a player, you have to keep going forward. We have so much to play for in the Premier League and the FA Cup.

“That’s what I told myself. Of course, you have to keep looking to the positive things.”

He continued: “It’s not an easy decision for him (Emery) to make. It’s a long time ago for me.

“Sometimes life hits you from an angle you don’t expect but that’s part of football but you keep going.

“They (the Premier League and FA Cup) are the only games I can play! Even if I were playing in the Champions League, my attitude would be the same. Every game is 90 minutes. Every game you have chances.”

Malen hopes to ensure he is playing for Villa in the Champions League next season by securing qualification through the Premier League, after Saturday’s win kept their hopes very much alive.

Villa struck twice in the space of as many minutes to race into a two-goal lead, with Malen netting after Morgan Rogers had opened the scoring with his third of the campaign.

But the hosts then had to hold off a spirited fightback from Forest, for whom Jota Silva cut the deficit early in the second half.

The win was Villa’s seventh on the spin in all competitions and vindicated Emery’s decision to make eight changes to his team, with Malen one of those playing drafted into the starting XI.

Asked when Emery had told his players of the planned shake-up, Malen said: “This morning, maybe yesterday, I think everybody is ready. That’s the most important thing.

“The coach has said that we will need everybody. We need all our players. I think we have got the players as well. We have a lot of quality in the team.

“You knew it was going to be a tough game. They (Forest) are an awkward team to play against, so in the end, we won.”

He continued: “Can we make the Champions League? I hope so. If you look at the effort and the fight against a difficult team, every player who came on gave everything. From there, you can see we are looking up.”