Aston Villa boss Unai Emery hailed his players for their 4-1 triumph at Europa Conference League opponents AZ Alkmaar.

Leon Bailey, Youri Tielemans, Ollie Watkins and John McGinn struck for the visitors.

“It really was very important, this match," Emery told VillaTV post-match.

“There were 1,000 fans here helping us.

“We played being very competitive in the 90 minutes as well against a good team.

“They are strong in the league, they played in the semi-finals of this competition last year and they have experiences in this competition.

“We needed to be focused in the 90 minutes. When we needed transition, we did.

“We needed control of the ball to keep possession, we did.

“And I think we played being responsible and mature, trying to get a good performance collectively.

“And adding some of the players as well and getting from them their best qualities. In the last matches, they didn't start in the starting XI, like Leon Bailey, Youri Tielemans.

“It was very important trying to get the performance with every player."

Emery added: “We have to be consistent.

“We are going to play at home against AZ Alkmaar in the next two weeks, it will again be very important to try and win this match because it's still very tight with Legia Warszawa and Zrinjski.

“Every team had won one and lost one match (before tonight), today we added another victory and this is very important.

“But, of course, we have to be consistent, try to continue in our work and be demanding."