Aston Villa boss Unai Emery has issued a six-word demand to his players as the club looks to end its 28-year wait for silverware.
The Midlands side have not won a major trophy since they lifted the League Cup in 1996.
Emery has worked wonders since he moved to Villa in 2022Getty
But Villa have become a different beast since Emery took over having guided them away from the relegation zone and into the Champions League in less than two years at the club.
Emery’s side have also proven they belong at the elite European level having won both of their matches in the Champions League, one of which was a famous victory over Bayern Munich at Villa Park.
They have to chance to make it three from three on Tuesday when they host Bologna.
But Emery, who was won the Europa League a staggering four times, knows their current form will count for nothing if Villa can’t turn it into silverware.
“I don’t want to waste my time here, that is my message,” Emery said.
“You can’t waste your time here. My objective here is to keep the same level we have now, Champions League and add more to be contenders for titles.
“This is the message, we love football, we love our work and we want to be successful.
“We want to achieve the objectives and one of them is to play in the Champions League. It is not about playing there only because of some circumstances – I want to us to stay there for a long time.
“But it is difficult. Maybe sometimes you can have some problems or struggle in our way, but you have to be resilient. We want to be strong in the idea in our mind and create a strong mentality to always break barriers.
“We can believe, working like we are doing, we can keep it. This is my challenge, this is my objective now.
Villa are hoping to win a third-straight Champions League game against Bologna on TuesdayGetty
“We are fourth in the Premier League, we are with two wins in the Champions League.
“I want it and I want it to be always winning more matches than losing and trying to work hard to keep it for a long time.
“Tomorrow hopefully we will play showing we believe we can compete. I don’t know how far we are going to get but in this moment we are here, in a good position in the Premier League and Champions League.”
Along with their blistering start to the Champions League, Villa under Emery have enjoyed their best start to a Premier League season since 1998.
A 3-1 win over Fulham on Saturday ensured Villa ended the weekend in fourth and stretched their unbeaten run across all competitions to nine games.
Given the Premier League is just eight games old this term, there are still plenty of twists and turns to be had.
Villa are unbeaten in their last nine across all competitions
Emery will also have to perform a delicate balancing act when it comes to his squad to ensure they are as fresh as can be for the European and domestic campaign.
However, those concerns have not stopped talkSPORT host Ally McCoist from boldly claiming Villa have ‘got to be’ considered a serious title contender.
“I mean the Villa fans must be pinching themselves when they get up in the morning with where they are and what they’re achieving and where the club are, brilliant,” McCoist said.
“They just look really, really comfortable. I’m looking at their side, they’ve still got the dilemma about Jhon Duran. McGinn on the bench, Barkley on the bench.
“They look as though they’ve got a little bit of strength now, which they need with the European games coming up.
Emery has transformed Villa from relegation battlers to title contendersGetty
“Can they be called title contenders? At this moment in time, they’ve got to be, as simple as that. But there’s still, as we know, a long, long way to go.
“But the level of performance and where they are in the league, yes.”
After Tuesday’s Champions League battle against Bologna, Villa host Bournemouth on Saturday as Emery looks to get another win over his Basque peer Andoni Iraola.
