Matty Cash returns to familiar surroundings after Aston Villa landed in Poland on Wednesday afternoon ahead of their opening Europa Conference League group stage match with Legia Warsaw.

The right-back will make his first European appearance for Villa on Thursday night after coming off the bench in each of the club’s play-off wins over Hibernian. He has impressed from the start of this season, scoring three goals in seven appearances in all competitions after Unai Emery gave him the right to attack the box more often in the new Villa system.

Emery has won four European titles in his illustrious career, including three during his years as coach at Sevilla from 2013 to 2016. Cash credits his experience in the dressing room and as a coach. will be the key to helping Villa have a chance to win this season.

“Obviously this coach has a lot of experience in European football, which helps a lot,” Cash explained. “We have a few guys who have never played in Europe before, like me.

“Then we have other guys who have played in European competitions and have a lot of experience. But most importantly, we have a lot of players who really want to succeed in Europe.”

He added:
“I don’t think it matters which cup competition we are in or the Premier League, every match we play we want to win. Not only in Europe this season, but also in other cup competitions.

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“We want to go as far as possible and that’s a discussion between ourselves and with the coach. In every match we want to win, no matter who we play. Europe also gives us a great opportunity to do that.

Cash obtained Polish citizenship in 2021 through his mother and grandfather, and changed his international allegiance. Since then, he has made 13 appearances for the Polish national team, including four at Qatar’s 2022 World Cup.

When asked if that would give him an advantage on Thursday, Cash replied:
“There are a few Polish guys playing there and I’m sure the coach will ask me the same question during the week. “I know some things about Legia, obviously one of the biggest teams in Poland. They are a good team with a huge fan base, which is really good.

“It will definitely be a difficult game and we will have to prepare well, which I am sure we will do this week. The coach will ask everyone to review everything with us. It’s good to go into Thursday’s game after an important game.” win.

He continued:
“I played there and also practiced on the field many times with Poland. Our base is right next to the stadium with Poland so I know it very well.

“I know what’s going to happen. The fans there are crazy, to be fair, they’re brilliant and they deserve our respect. I’m looking forward to it and I see it as a Really good opportunity for us.”

Legia fans are famous for creating a hostile atmosphere at Stadion Wojska Polskiego. They use fireworks and choreography to intimidate the opposition, especially on important European evenings.

“I’ve never faced it before, but I imagine it can be quite scary when you go to places like that,” Cash admitted. “But we have to focus on ourselves, we have a great team and a great manager with a lot of experience in these types of encounters. He always keeps us on our toes, helps Were calm.

Villa will play six matches in all competitions within 17 days, starting with their opening Europa Conference League group stage match against Legia. Villa spectacularly beat Crystal Palace 3-1 on Saturday, but Emery’s attention quickly turned to Thursday’s match.

“I told the guys there was no rest, no time to really think,” Cash said. “You just have to prepare, then compete and do your best.

“Games happen very quickly, but as a player you want to play as many games as possible – every cup competition and every international match. That’s our job, even if it’s tiring at times.

“Even though we had some incurable injuries, we were a united team and fought to the end as we showed against Crystal Palace. We definitely have a pretty good team and once a few injuries resurface we will be even stronger. We will keep going and keep going.”