Unai Emery has admitted that Aston Villa can no longer continue to concede goals if they want to maintain their good form.

Villa’s three-match winning run in the Premier League was halted in the 2-2 draw against Ipswich Town on Sunday, with Emery’s back four coming under scrutiny for their role in Liam Delap’s second-half equaliser.

Villa have kept just eight clean sheets in their previous 44 league matches and are yet to record one this season, conceding nine goals in six games.

The Midlands club will be without their only senior right-back in Matty Cash for the visit of Bayern Munich in the Champions League on Wednesday evening, with Ezri Konsa, whose preferred role is in central defence, recently having to switch to wing-back.

“We’re not defending like we did last year,” Emery said during his pre-match press conference. “It’s not for the defenders, the goalkeeper, it’s for everyone. The first defenders are the attackers and the first attacking player is the goalkeeper.

“We have to improve because we can’t get the goals we get every game we play. I believe in our work, but we are conceding more goals than normal.”

However, Emery refused to rule out any player for criticism as he stressed that individual mistakes are normal in football.

“Football is mistakes, we have to accept that we make mistakes,” he said. “I try to correct my mistakes tactically when I analyze my decisions during the match and it is my responsibility to correct them and not repeat them. It’s the same for the players.

“I will never punish the players who make a mistake before the next match and will work with the players on the pitch. Sunday morning we worked on every mistake we made. I want to try to correct the training and hopefully be on the field tomorrow.”

Villa return to the Premier League on Sunday against Manchester United.

(Mike Egerton/PA Images via Getty Images)