Aston Villa boss Unai Emery knew his side had to beat Leicester if they wanted to keep their top-four challenge on course.

Villa’s quest for a second successive year in the Champions League has been hamstrung by inconsistency this season, but they kicked off 2025 with an important three points.

Leon Bailey chose a good time to score his first goal of the season 14 minutes from time after Ross Barkley’s opener had been quickly cancelled out by Stephy Mavididi.

Victory moved Unai Emery’s men to within four points of fourth-placed Chelsea as they now break for FA Cup action.

“We needed those three points after we drew at home with Brighton and we are challenging to be in the top 10, top eight,” he said.

“The league is very difficult because a lot of teams are performing very well. To win today was fantastic.

“How we achieved those points as well, in 90 minutes struggling. Leicester competed very well, in the first half we didn’t perform like we wanted.

“We didn’t create clear chances, so to get those three points is fantastic. We had to be patient and find a solution and we did it.”

There was a blow for Villa as John McGinn limped off with a hamstring injury and Emery does not know how long he will be out.

“It is his hamstring. He could be out for two, three, four, five weeks, I don’t know,” the Spaniard added.

The table makes much more miserable reading for Leicester, who remain in the bottom three after a fifth successive defeat.

Boss Ruud van Nistelrooy is happy with the progress his side is making, though knows they have to cut out the mistakes.

“I can repeat myself from last week, decent performance but through our own mistakes we could have done better,” he said, referring to Villa’s winner, where they lost possession in a dangerous position.

“These are standard situations we can handle better. In the Premier League these situations are punished without blinking your eyes.

“That’s the disappointing bit because over the 95 minutes we were calm and composed. It was a very, very stable performance.

“In general there are a lot of positives that are important conclusions to get points in this league, it is just the final details that are missing.

“Every week we are getting closer to converting good performances into points. It’s a foundation for points but we have to realise how to handle these moments.

“It’s a foundation we feel we are creating in five weeks together. In the end hard work will pay off and we can get points combined with good performances.”