Aston Villa

We asked for your views on Aston Villa's victory over Preston in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup.

Here are some of your comments:

Ian: Very solid performance and got through a tricky tie on paper fairly comfortably and bonus with Rashford scoring his first Villa goals. Could and should have doubled the score in second half - can we dare to dream yet?

Tracey: Absolutely brilliant. Good for Rashford to score two goals and to get man of the match just sums it all up. Keep up the good work and let's hope that we can keep the two loanees permanently. They will be well worth the money.

Malcolm: A solid performance from Villa. Preston had a good first half, missing the game's best chance but Villa dominated the second half with two goals at last for Marcus and a cracker from Jacob Ramsey.

Trevor: Villa were lacklustre in the first half. Feel sure they should have started with Ollie Watkins and left Boubacar Kamara out. Enough talent in that starting line-up to cope in midfield against Preston and only one team was ever going to win this game. They will though need four in midfield against a quality Crystal Palace side. Anything less and Palace will win easily. Sorry boss, that's how I see it.

Dave: Thought it was a well measured, patient performance. The first half was holding possession and not doing anything stupid, the second half was turning the screw on a plucky opponent. Job done.

Prit: I'm ecstatic that we have reached the semi-finals but I must confess I was a bit nervous in the first half. I thought the young Preston wing-back (Jayden Meghoma) looked a real prospect. But Villa work really well when they are quick in transition as can be seen by Rashford's delightful first goal for us. I'm a bit nervous about Palace as they definitely have the sign over us in the last few games, but I am convinced the mighty Unai Emery will have a plan.

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Former Aston Villa player Ian Taylor told BBC 5 Live Breakfast he believes Unai Emery is "one of the best out there" after the Spaniard oversaw his side's 3-0 FA Cup quarter-final win over Championship side Preston North End.

Having not taken home the FA Cup since 1957, Taylor is hoping his old team can make it happen in May.

"It would be fantastic to win the FA Cup," Taylor said. "A lot of Villa fans wouldn't have dreamed about getting to a cup final, but since Unai Emery has come in he's just changed the whole club. Being in the Champions League where we are is unbelievable and now we also have an FA Cup semi-final.

"Tactically, Emery is one of the best out there. He's gradually changed the whole philosophy of the football club.

"Villa fans have had to be patient with the way he wants to play, but everyone has fully bought in to what he wants to do. The mindset is totally different, we are really heading in the right direction."

Villa will play Crystal Palace in the semi-finals at Wembley next month.

Simon Stone
Chief football news reporter

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Marcus Rashford ended his 120-day goal drought with a second-half double at Preston on Sunday to help Unai Emery's side set up an FA Cup semi-final against Crystal Palace - so why wouldn't Aston Villa want to make the loan move permanent?

The deal United struck with Aston Villa to let Rashford leave is not straightforward.

The precise nature of the loan deal is complicated. United have said 75% of Rashford's wages are being covered, although they have not explained exactly how.

That could rise to 90% if certain performance-related bonuses are met.

That, presumably, will include an extended run in the Champions League as well as the FA Cup.

Unai Emery's side face Crystal Palace at Wembley next month as the next step in their quest to win the trophy for the first time since 1957.

In addition, they are ninth in the Premier League, three points behind fifth-placed Manchester City, who occupy what is virtually certain to be the final Champions League spot.

That proliferation of targets underscores why Emery did not really want to talk about the likelihood of Villa triggering their £40m option to turn Rashford's move into a permanent deal.

"We can't waste time speaking about that," he said

"If next year we are in the Champions League, in the Europa, or Conference League or not. Or we don't win a trophy - it is completely different."

Read the full story here

Match of the Day pundits Dion Dublin and Micah Richards showered praise on Aston Villa's on-loan forward Marcus Rashford after his double helped Unai Emery's side into the FA Cup semi-finals.

Having not scored for more than 100 days, the England striker demonstrated his enduring sharpness in front of goal to fire Villa to Wembley.

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"If you had to pick a player to be the story of the FA Cup weekend, then it has to be Marcus Rashford," former Aston Villa midfielder Nigel Reo-Coker told BBC Radio 5 Live's Football Daily podcast.

The on-loan forward broke his four-month drought by scoring twice for Villa at Preston on Sunday and left the field to a standing ovation from supporters who are fully on board with what he is bringing to their team.

"Rashford has received a lot of criticism since leaving Manchester United and going to Aston Villa, but he is now back in the England fold, and the two goals on Sunday will have done him a world of good," Reo-Coker said.

"I like the fact he is talking about getting into games and rhythm because that does not happen overnight. It can sometimes take a run of five or six games to get that strength and belief in yourself and he seems to be getting there.

"It is nice to hear him saying he is enjoying his football and see him playing with a smile on his face.

"He has come into a team that has good leadership and solid foundation and he has come to be part of the team. All the pressure and emphasis isn't just on Rashford.

"We know the ability he has but he has to find that fire now to go and do that week in, week out. He has got that in him but it just needs to come to the forefront."

Listen on BBC Sounds

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Unai Emery has been speaking after Aston Villa's 3-0 victory against Preston in the FA Cup. "We played a serious match. Of course we are concerned about our goals in every competition, we try to reduce chances for the opponent and today the best work we did playing seriously.

"The first half was equal more or less but we didn't concede chances, we were more in their box. The second half we scored the first goal and after that it was more difficult for them and we felt more comfortable. We played 90 minutes being so responsible in our work."

On Rashford: "Firstly his commitment to work, to adapt quickly is very important and he is doing that. Then to feel comfortable playing in his best level, there's still work to do but today he made one step forward, feeling comfortable and scoring goals."

On the chance of winning a trophy: "Firstly I am proud of how the owners and the club is responding. When we arrived here we were speaking about how much we want to work here together.

"To play in Europe and we did, to be in contention for a trophy and last year we were in the Conference League. We are increasing our level, our demands. We are in the top eight of the Premier League more or less, we are in Europe, we are going to play in the quarter-finals of the Champions League, I think the ambition the owners showed is on the field. I am very demanding to try and do my best."

On reaching the semi-finals: "This competition means a lot for supporters and to play at Wembley will be fantastic and the supporters are the very heart of the club. It is always very important to try and get our responsibility to give them a moment like that."

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Aston Villa forward Marcus Rashford, has been speaking to the BBC after today's victory: "It's a great feeling, I feel like I've been getting fitter and playing better football since I've been here. It's always nice for a forward to get a goal so hopefully, it continues.

"We have to take it one game at a time and give it 100% on the pitch and see where it takes us. We're very ambitious."

On if he's getting back to full fitness: "Step by step. I think I can still get fitter. I missed a lot of football before joining up (with the team). My body feels good and I'm enjoying my football for now."

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Aston Villa have progressed to the semi-final of the FA Cup for the first time since the 2014-15 season, whilst today's 3-0 victory was their biggest FA Cup win since beating Hull City in January 1999, also by a 3-0 scoreline.

Since his debut in the FA Cup (March 2016), Marcus Rashford has scored five quarter-final goals, one more than any other player in this timeframe, with today's brace his first in the competition overall since January 2017.

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The draw for the FA Cup semi-finals has been made.

Here are the two ties in the order they were drawn.

Games will be played at Wembley over the final weekend of April.

• Nottingham Forest v Bournemouth or Manchester City

• Crystal Palace v Aston Villa

Were you at the game or following from elsewhere?

What did you make of the performance?

Come back to this page on Monday to find a selection of your replies.

Preston are hard to beat at home and have not lost at Deepdale since 2 November, a run of 15 games.

I have seen quite a bit of Paul Heckingbottom's team this season and they will defend deep, set up in a 3-5-2 shape and make themselves hard to break down.

It is an old football cliche, but in this case it is very true that the first goal will be extremely important.

Aston Villa have got some brilliant attacking players, but I also always feel like teams can score against them.

If they go behind, they could have problems but I do feel their quality should see them through - depending on Unai Emery's team selection of course, with a big league game coming up at Brighton on Wednesday.

Villa have got their eyes on numerous prizes and there probably hasn't been excitement levels like this at the club since Martin O'Neill signed me in 2006.

I'm still backing them here, but it is going to be a cagey game, and they might have to wait to make the breakthrough before a couple of late goals get the job done.

I'm going for Emi Martinez to keep a clean sheet, too. His keepie-uppie antics,, external to wind up Brazil while playing for Argentina this week were another reminder of why he is the best goalkeeper in the world. Anyone who can produce moments like that in a game of that magnitude deserves all the accolades you can get.

Sutton's prediction: 0-2

Read the full predictions and have your say here

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Ross Barkley will miss Sunday's FA Cup quarter-final at Preston but is "so close" to returning to training, says Aston Villa boss Unai Emery.

Midfielder Barkley has missed 15 games since injuring his knee against West Ham in January.

"We are recovering players," said Emery. "The only player ruled out is Barkley. The past two months have been really bad for him while he has been injured.

"He is now so, so close to start training with us. Maybe even today [Friday], tomorrow or Monday. He is feeling good now."

Defender Axel Disasi is cup-tied for Sunday's game due to featuring for parent club Chelsea earlier in the season, but Emery expects to have the rest of his squad available and hopes a win can be the start to a strong end to the season.

"Hopefully we can keep the players we have now being available for the last two months," he added.

"Two years ago we finished the season strongly and we achieved the objective in the last two matches playing against Liverpool and drawing, and against Brighton and winning at home.

"Last year we finished the season so, so tired. A lot of players were injured, didn't have enough energy and we lost the last match against Crystal Palace away.

"This year, my objective and how we are now planning the rest of the season is to try to be full energy again, with every player focusing individually and collectively on the objective we are going to face."

Tyrese King
BBC Sport journalist

Aston Villa boss Unai Emery has been speaking to the media before Sunday's FA Cup quarter-final at Preston (kick-off 13:30 BST).

Here are the key lines from his news conference:

• Midfielder Ross Barkley is a doubt. Emery said Emi Martinez, Leon Bailey and Andres Garcia are all expected to train on Friday and will be assessed.

• Emery wants "consistency" for Aston Villa as we approach the end of the campaign and admitted Villa "conceded a lot of goals this season" and lost " a lot of matches at home".

• He added: "Now we are in another moment where we have to be very demanding because our ambition is to get the objective we want for the season."

• The tie on Sunday is "very important" as Emery's side aim to regain their "style of play" after the international break.

• On the impact of the international break: "When we [first] arrived here we didn't have a lot of players in the national team. Now we are seeing the players joining up with their national team because we were performing well, both collectively and individually."

• On the players not selected for international duty: "We have had a good break. Of course, we were working with the players [who were not on international duty] and used the time to analyse the matches we played."

• He continued: "We were in Dubai for four days. The players we worked with were fantastic, and we worked with them to get that consistency, but the players who were in the national team will have their first training session today."

Watch Preston v Aston Villa on BBC One, BBC iPlayer and the BBC Sport website and app, and listen on BBC Radio 5 Live and BBC Sounds.

Follow all of Friday's FA Cup news conferences and the rest of the day's football news

Preston midfielder Stefan Thordarson joins Ben Croucher on The Football News Show to look ahead to Sunday's FA Cup quarter-final against Premier League side Aston Villa.

He says they have been working on their set-pieces and are "well prepared" for the challenges Unai Emery's side may pose.

Watch The Football News Show on BBC iPlayer

Mike Taylor
BBC Radio WM reporter

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"There'll be plenty of Aston Villa fans over there, and we all deserve it. But why not dare to dream? We can carry this journey on," said John McGinn in the glow of their Champions League win over Club Brugge a fortnight ago.

Just as much as the supporters, the Villa players must be itching to get on with their season.

Having on several occasions during the winter looked in need of a pause to reboot their campaign, Villa had discovered some momentum before the last-16 second leg victory, so perhaps the break came just when they did not need it.

A squad that has defied gravity at times over the past two years now looks stronger than at any previous stage this season – pending an update from Unai Emery tomorrow, Ross Barkley is the only player out through injury, although Ollie Watkins had a minor issue in the Brugge match.

Arguably, given the depth compared to great Villa teams of the past, Emery is overseeing the strongest squad in the club's history. At the risk of too much hyperbole, if the next few weeks go well, they could represent a major milestone in that proud history.

They are not in Paris yet.

Villa fans who take in every away game have nearly 600 miles of travelling to do in the next week - Preston and Brighton, before the equally significant home game against Nottingham Forest.

But Villa go into this period with interest in three competitions and a realistic chance of achieving something significant in all of them. Manchester City's presence notwithstanding, the FA Cup has rarely looked as wide open as this. Premier League form has been patchy but the gap to the top five is still small.

Then there is Europe.

Many bookmakers make Villa seventh favourites for the Champions League. But none of the more fancied runners have been unbeatable this season and all carry a greater pressure of expectation. This would have seemed a wild claim even a few months ago, never mind two or three years back, but, it is not ludicrous to imagine Villa advancing further, even to the final.

Emery has often urged fans not to look too far ahead - to enjoy the journey. He is right, but for Villa fans the last fortnight must have felt like Christmas Eve every day.

"You never ever know," said McGinn, thinking of Paris and beyond, "stranger things have happened."

Yes, John, but one dream at a time.

Listen to full commentary of Preston v Aston Villa at 13:30 BST on Sunday on BBC Radio WM (all frequencies)

Tune into The West Midlands Football Phone-In from 18:00 on weeknights

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Both Preston and Aston Villa have progressed from three of the six previous FA Cup ties between the sides, with this the first meeting since a 1-0 win for Aston Villa in January 1967.

Aston Villa have won each of their past four FA Cup quarter-final matches, with this their first since a 2-0 win against West Brom in 2014-15.

Aston Villa have won just one of their past eight away games in the FA Cup (D2 L5), beating Middlesbrough 1-0 in the third round last season.