Unai Emery has challenged Morgan Rogers to improve on the numbers he produced for Aston Villa last season, despite a slow start to this campaign.

Rogers has recently shown signs of improvement, recording a goal involvement in each of his last three Premier League appearances.

He assisted goals in wins over Fulham and Burnley before firing in an equaliser against Tottenham last Sunday.

Prior to playing a key role in Villa’s victory at Spurs, Rogers scored his first goal for England the previous week, which no doubt further boosted his confidence.

Ahead of facing his former club, Manchester City, on Sunday, Rogers was a focal point in Emery’s pre-match press conference.

“Every individual player needs the team. They need the structure and the shape to feel comfortable and to feel confident, and to set their individual performance,” Emery explained.

“Morgan Rogers, he is improving at the same time which the team is improving and getting better, because he is feeling comfortable and confident to show his qualities and his power in everything.

“The goals and assists,...