Jadon Sancho was substituted after being brought on in Aston Villa’s win over Manchester City, but Unai Emery insists that it was his plan all along.

The Manchester United loanee played 45 minutes against City after coming off the bench to replace Emi Buendia, before being withdrawn in the 74th minute.

Buendia appeared to pick up a foot injury shortly after assisting the only goal of the game, which saw Matty Cash fire past Gianluigi Donnarumma in the 19th minute.

In the second half, Sancho nearly scored his first goal for the club when he collected Boubacar Kamara’s pass, only to be denied twice by Donnarumma from a tight angle.

As Villa defended resolutely in a deep block, Emery decided to replace Sancho with Evann Guessand with a quarter of an hour remaining.

Asked about the substitution, Emery said: “It was not easy, firstly, after Sancho played 60 minutes against Go Ahead. He is getting fit, but not enough.

“I planned as well with him to play him in the second half, but...