Unai Emery praised the performances of Marcus Rashford and Marco Asensio after the pair made their Aston Villa debuts off the bench against Tottenham.
Every week on from joining the club on loan from Manchester United, Rashford was named among the many subs on Sunday night alongside Asensio, one other loan signing from Paris Saint-Germain.
Moments after Morgan Rogers had doubled Villa’s lead, the 2 latest signings entered the fray as Villa sealed a 2-1 victory of their FA Cup fourth round tie to pile more pressure on Spurs boss Ange Postecoglou.
Rashford looked sharp during his energic cameo with Asensio providing some delightful moments, brilliantly combining with Rogers to terrorise the Tottenham defence.
Andres Garcia and Doyen Malen, two other January recruits, began the sport at Villa Park with Emery pleased to see the pair immediately adopting his gameplan.
With Villa fighting on three fronts, the Villa boss was pleased to see his recent additions all provide a telling glimpse of what’s to come back.
‘Andres Garcia and Malen each played in the concept we had,’ Emery said.
‘They were consistent and focused. As well, Marcus Rashford and Asensio, we watched their skill and the way they helped us and can help us again in the following months in different competitions we are going to face.
‘We’re in a brand new way after the changes we did. We’re demanding because we still need to enhance on account of some tactical issues and the way we wish to compete within the Premier League.’
While they lost Jhon Duran throughout the January transfer window, Villa now have a wealth of attacking options to support Ollie Watkins up front with local lads Jacob Murphy and Rogers on the rating sheet on Sunday.
Asked in regards to the impact of Rashford and Asensio on the squad, Rogers said after the match: ‘It pushes us along, we wish to take what we will from the experienced players within the squad.
‘It’s massive to have people like that within the constructing and hopefully we will just push one another. The second goal was necessary, we played well but we hadn’t killed the sport off.’
Rashford and Asensio will hope to make their full debuts on Saturday when Villa host Ipswich.
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