John McGinn says Aston Villa boss Unai Emery has told his players not to believe what he says in public.

The Spaniard told his squad about his ambitions for the rest of the season before their tie in the last 16 of the .

In the immediate aftermath of Villa’s victory over in the , Emery said: “We are not considered favourites to win this trophy. We are contenders but not favourites."

The club’s boss maintained that stance last night, saying he wasn’t looking into the distance at what might be achieved, only on their two-legged affair against Club Brugge.

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But McGinn said that Villa’s boss had clarified his thoughts to them before they boarded the plane to Belgium. The international said: “At the weekend, he clarified what he means.

“When he says we are not contenders, he means not favourites. Of course, we’re in these competitions - and we’re contenders to win every competition we’re in. In certain ones, we’re fancied more than others. We’re going towards the end of the season and it’s brilliant we have got so much to look forward to.

“We’ve got an opportunity to make some history but there’s a long, long way to go. And we don’t listen too much to what a manager has to say in his press conferences because we know he might say things he regrets.”

McGinn said there was the whiff of ‘revenge’ in the air after Villa went down 1-0 to the same opponents four months ago in controversial circumstances.

Defender Tyrone Mings was penalised after a bizarre handball incident as the club suffered its first reversal in the Champions League this season.

McGinn added: “The exciting thing for us is that we know we have not hit top form yet. We’ve still got a lot more to give. There’s been a big inconsistency about us this season, so hopefully we start to click - and we can do something special.”

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