Villa defender Torres fit for Champions League clash at Brugge says Emery

Aston Villa defender Pau Torres will be available for their Champions League last 16 first leg tie against Club Brugge after recovering from a foot fracture, manager Unai Emery said ahead of Tuesdays game in Belgium.

The 28-year-old Torres suffered a metatarsal fracture during a Premier League 2-2 draw with Brighton amp; Hove Albion in late December.

Fellow defenders Tyrone Mings and Matty Cash are also fit after missing Villas 2-0 FA Cup win over Cardiff on Friday, alongside midfielder Boubacar Kamara, who picked up a thigh injury last month.

Torres, Mings and Matty Cash are in the squad, Emery told reporters on Monday, adding that recent signings Andres Garcia and Donyell Malen have not been registered for the competition.

Kamara was in the squad Friday and for tomorrow he could start playing minutes.

Emery said that after losing to Brugge in their first-round meeting earlier this season, he expected his team to put in a much better performance this time around.

We played here in November and were now in March. Hopefully we can do better now, he said.

When we played here we werent competing like I want to do. The players know and we analysed why we didnt compete in that moment like we can hopefully do tomorrow.

The next step is tomorrow, trying to do our best being motivated, being excited, getting balance emotionally and playing good football.

The Spaniard expects January loan signings Marcus Rashford and Marco Asensio, who have been instrumental in Villas recent victories, to make an impact in Europes elite club competition.

We added players with experience in Europe and in this competition. Usually, they are players playing in the highest level who can help us a lot, Emery said.

The process they are doing, progressively adapting to us, is going well...