Aston Villa boss Unai Emery has insisted that new loan signing Marcus Rashford has trained "fantastically" despite Manchester United's willingness to part ways.

Marcus Rashford joined Aston Villa in the January transfer window, with boss Unai Emery already being forced to make difficult decisions when naming his Champions League squad

Unai Emery has left Donyell Malen and Andres Garcia out of Aston Villa ’s squad for the Champions League knockout phase. Villa signed Malen from Borussia Dortmund last month in a deal worth €23 million (£19m) plus €3m (£2.5m) in add-ons, while Garcia joined in a £7m move from Spanish side Levante.

Aston Villa boss Unai Emery ‘argued’ with two of his January signings after being forced to exclude them from the club’s Champions League squad. Donyell Malen and Andres Garcia will not feature for the Villans in the knockout phase of the European competition.

But with Villa suffering something of a defensive crisis, Emery has instead opted for centre-back Alex Disasi, a deadline day loan signing from Chelsea. Fellow loan signings Marcus Rashford and Marco Asensio have also been picked. He said: “The rules only can register three changes. We changed five players and only we can register three.