By Andrew Cawthorne BIRMINGHAM, England (Reuters) -Aston Villa missed a chance to close in on the Premier League's top four on Sunday in a 1-1 draw at home to West Ham United whose Brazilian left back Emerson rescued a point after Jacob Ramsey had got the hosts off to a dream start.

Unai Emery was adamant that playing between two Champions League games would never affect his team’s intensity, although there is clearly a good time to catch Aston Villa this season. They have now failed to win in the last six matches after playing in Europe.

Aston Villa are eighth in the Premier League and ninth in the Champions League, so their season is hardly a disaster - they just look a little bit flat at times. Their striker situation is something that Villa boss Unai Emery has got to sort out because he put Jhon Duran on to play with Ollie Watkins in the second half against Monaco,