England star didn't want to see Thomas Tuchel before boss laughed in his face

Ezri Konsa has candidly admitted that the season's start has been challenging. The Aston Villa defender was shown a red card in his first match, much to the amusement of England boss Thomas Tuchel who chuckled at him in the tunnel. Konsa, 27, has also witnessed his team scrape together just one point from their initial three matches of the season, failing to net a single goal.

The halcyon days of last season when Villa Park returned to the Champions League's elite for the first time in 41 years now feel like distant memories. Unai Emery seems to be bearing the brunt of the cost for steering the club back into Europe as they've had to offload players left, right and centre to balance the books in accordance with Premier League spending rules and UEFA's stringent squad cost ratios. Having joined Villa seven years ago, Konsa has experienced both the highs and lows, narrowly avoiding relegation in his debut season at the club.

This perspective allows him to look back on his sending-off during the opening weekend for tugging back Newcastle's Anthony Gordon with a touch of irony.

"I think everyone knows it's been a tough start," Konsa chuckled, recalling his encounter with Tuchel after his red card.

"Yes he was there. I didn't want to see him but he was outside the door. He was laughing at me. Not much to say about that!"

"I got red-carded but he was very helpful, very understanding. It was a boring game anyway! He didn't think anything of it. I was actually sat next to him at the Brentford game when I was suspended so we managed to speak then.

"There was no small talk during the game, he was just focused. We only spoke at half-time. When we were watching the game he didn't say one word."

There was likely little to discuss as Villa drew that opening fixture against Newcastle, suffered defeat at Brentford and then endured a hammering at home to Crystal Palace when Konsa returned to the starting eleven.

It would be reasonable to suggest that the campaign has not unfolded as anticipated for either Konsa or Villa. Previous season's peaks have been succeeded by troughs.

"I think it's part of football," said Konsa. "We're only three games in. Look, we've done some recruitment on deadline day so hopefully the boys that have come in can really help us. Yeah, look, it's been a tough start, we all know that but hopefully we can bounce back.

"I think it's one of those ones - part of football. Even the top teams have a bad spell. Look, we've got a great manager, we've got a great squad. I know we'll bounce back.

"When you've had two very good seasons, you obviously want to continue that and look, we want to stay up there. We want to stay in the top six, top five and the aim for everyone that up there ... we want to play Champions League football. That's what we're going to try to do.

"I've been at Villa for seven years, I've been there at its worst times so I know how bad it can be. But look, we're not there yet. It's three games in. We've got another tough two games when we go back so all focus will be on that after this international break is done."

Reflecting on the bitter end of last season - when Villa were unjustly denied an opening goal at Manchester United due to a VAR blunder - which saw them narrowly miss out on a Champions League spot.

When asked if it still bothers him, Konsa replied: "A million percent, of course. We knew going into that game what we needed to do. Obviously, the red card killed us in the first half.

"It made the game really difficult and I think everyone knows the decision that was made in the second half with Morgan Rogers' goal really did affect us as well.

"Going into that game, the end result wasn't the best feeling. But we're going to try and bounce back and try and get back into the Champions League this season."