Unai Emery has suggested that a number of his Aston Villa players are injury doubts ahead of Saturday's fixture against Manchester City.

The West Midlands outfit square off against the Premier League leaders having put together a seven-match unbeaten streak in all competitions.

However, not only do Villa face a quick turnaround after Wednesday's win over Viking FK in the Champions League, Emery has a number of injury concerns.

Johan Manzambi missed the midweek contest with a minor knock and remains a doubt for the showdown with Enzo Maresca's side.

Speaking at a pre-match press conference on Friday, Emery hinted that other players in his squad were dealing with fitness issues.

Emery says some Aston Villa players "have some pain"

The Spaniard suggested that he wanted to see how some squad members came through training on Friday before making his team selection.

He told reporters: "We are training now in the afternoon and we are still being with players who are clearly out like (Amadou) Onana, Aaron [Wan-Bissaka] and (Matteo) Ruggeri.

"The other players, we will see how they are after the match they played on Wednesday. Some have some pain, but I can’t tell you now until after the training session this afternoon."

On Manzambi, he added: "It is not a big injury, but in case he doesn't feel 100% comfortable, training firstly. The plan is, can you run? Can you touch the ball? This is the process."

One big effort for Aston Villa before EFL Cup rotation?

With Villa down in 12th position in the Premier League table, their top-flight fixtures will take priority for the foreseeable future.

Emery will not want to throw away their participation in any competition, but he will give serious thought to making mass changes for the EFL Cup fourth round trip to Bournemouth on Wednesday, October 28.

Not only do Villa face Fulham in the Premier League three days later, they follow that game with visits to Barcelona and Manchester United in the space of five days.

If some players, including Manzambi, can contribute against Man City, they will surely get a deserved rest versus the Cherries.