Sevilla

Unai Emery: 'I had to hold Yevhen Konoplyanka back'

By Matt Law, Football Editor | 26 October 2015

Sevilla boss Unai Emery reveals that he wanted to "familiarise" Yevhen Konoplyanka with the club's "concepts" before handing him a spot in his first XI this season.

Sevilla boss Unai Emery has revealed the reasons for holding Ukraine international Yevhen Konoplyanka back in the early stages of the new campaign.

The attacker, who joined the Spanish club from Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk in the summer, spent the early weeks of the season coming off the bench for Emery's side, rather than being considered a certain starter.

The 26-year-old has been thrust into action in recent games, however, and has scored twice in his last two appearances for the Europa League winners.

Emery has said that he wanted to fully integrate the attacker into life at the club before picking him as a first-team starter.

"The idea was to familiarise him with our concepts, requirements and players. Now he's developing an understanding with [Benoit] Tremoulinas down the left and is showing more aggression defensively," Emery told reporters.

"We need all our players to reach our competitive level, but I hope they all will be within a month. I like having 24 players to choose from."

Konoplyanka, who has scored five times for Sevilla this season, netted in Sunday's 5-0 win over Getafe.