Villarreal coach Unai Emery was delighted after their Monday night rout of Levante.
The Yellow Submarine won 5-0, with Boulaye Dia, Pau Torres, Manu Trigueros and Gerard Moreno (2) all on the scoresheet.
Emery said, “Despite the important players we had missing, the response of the team today is what makes me optimistic. The aim for today was to continue the good run of form we'd seen in previous games. We've got three important points, which see the team take an important step forward."
“We set ourselves the challenge of winning away from home and we did that in San Sebastián. We also had one to compete and be strong at home, and we're doing that. We have good objectives and today we've taken an important step forward on the line we want to be one. The team, despite the absences and the players that are heading to the Africa Cup of Nations, need to be ready to show its credentials and achieve something important. What's positive is that there is a lot of the season left, and we need to set ourselves challenges that constantly motivate us to continue working hard to try and fulfil them."
On Dia, Emery continued: “Boulaye found the back of the net. It's been an adaptation process where he had to find his place and what he could give to his team. He has progressed in recent games. Samu, who had a long-term injury, is performing like the player we need, and Aurier has done 90 minutes where he was able to contribute to the team's victory."
There were also minutes for Nicolas Jackson and a LaLiga debut for Carlo Adriano.
Emery added: “Jackson has been working very well in the academy, and we are going to see how he can grow, because he's got characteristics to continue improving and we want to see what he is capable of giving us, especially in this next month when we're losing players in attack.
"Carlo is also playing very well for the B team and today he has a chance to make his LaLiga debut. The most important thing for them is to continue taking steps forward to be able to perform for the first team step by step."
