Unai Emery has explained why Harvey Elliott was not included in Aston Villa’s squad to face Manchester City.

Villa claimed their fourth consecutive Premier League win on Sunday afternoon, defeating title hopefuls City at home for the third straight season.

Matty Cash scored the only goal of the game in the 19th minute after being picked out by Emi Buendía from a well-worked set-piece routine.

Before the match, Elliott’s absence was a major talking point when the team news dropped at 12:45 p.m.

“I explained it two days ago in the press conference,” Emery said when asked about why Elliott was not included in the matchday squad.

“He is training well, and he played some matches, but the performances weren't what we needed. Some players are playing as a number 10, and they are playing well, like Buendia and Rogers, also Ross Barkley after he was out.

“In the squad today we needed to take one player out, and I decided for him. I am happy with him. He is training good. His commitment is fantastic and he...