Unai Emery is aware of the growing threat posed by Nottingham Forest to Aston Villa’s hopes of a second, successive top four finish.

The Villa boss has guided his side out of their mini, November slump and has overseen four wins from their last five games, their only blemish in that period a defeat at the City Ground.

As a result Villa now sit sixth in the Premier League table, two places and three points behind Forest who have confounded pre-season expectations.

Discussing the current league positions before Villa’s Boxing Day game with eighth-placed Newcastle United, Emery noted the scramble for the top four, with traditional powerhouses like Manchester City and United struggling to keep pace .

“It is not changing. When I arrived here, my thoughts were that it is the most difficult league,” Emery told the Villa website.

“A lot of teams have capacity, with good players, good coaches and good history. Different moments for different teams.

“Now is the moment for Nottingham Forest, but their history is a huge history in the Premier League and even in Champions League, with two wins. Bournemouth now as well, are performing very well. There are a lot of teams now getting more points than normal.

“Those points they are getting is because the quality of the teams and players is very high. The league is a very interesting league, very motivating for us, each match how we can get points and be better. Now we are sixth, we are trying to focus each match, be consistent.

“We are feeling better at home, but away, it is completely different. It’s our challenge. Our next challenge is Newcastle away.”

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