Morgan Rogers exclusive: Aston Villa and England hero speaks to the Express & Star

The next couple of months promise to be the biggest so far in the career of the Halesowen-born star, who has already racked up 61 appearances for Villa and England since last August and is still chasing glory with both.

“There are better days and there are worse days in terms of waking up in the morning and how you feel,” the 23-year-old smiles as he tells the Express & Star.

“But I don’t want to sit on the bench or be in the stands. I want to be on that pitch as much as possible.”

In that latter regard, Rogers has more than got his wish. The sole Villa player to feature in every Premier League match and play more than 3,000 total minutes, Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk is the only outfield player to have spent more time on the pitch since the start of last season.

Last month, Rogers became the first English player in Europe’s top-five leagues to make 100 appearances in all competitions in that same period.

In short, he is one of, if not the first name on Unai Emery’s team sheet and the trust placed in him by the Villa manager is something he is always desperate to repay.

“I try my best to always give everything,” he says. “When I play all these games, of course it is mentally and physically challenging.

“It can be draining sometimes but I try and recover, try and rest and do everything I can to be ready for the next game. It is what I pride myself on.

“The last couple of years I have really tried to hone in on my recovery and stuff like that, being in the best physical shape possible to attack all of it.”

For the most part, Rogers has repaid Emery’s faith handsomely. His goal in last Friday’s 4-2 win over Liverpool, which secured Villa’s place in next season’s Champions League, took him into double figures in the Premier League for the first time.

Rogers now has 50 goal involvements since the start of last season, hugely impressive numbers for a player who, it can often be easy to forget, is only just nearing the end of his second full Premier League campaign.

There have been low points, most notably last September when he was sarcastically cheered by some sections of the Villa Park crowd during a 1-0 win over Bologna, on the opening night of the Europa League.

Emery’s decision to keep him on the pitch raised eyebrows at the time but proved the right call as Rogers and Villa subsequently came alive, embarking on a club record equalling 11-match winning run which at Christmas had them in the title race.

“It is not just me the manager has done that with,” Rogers now reflects.

“I have seen other examples of players out of form and he will stick by them because he knows they will come good, he knows their quality and ability and what they bring to the side.

“It is more than just me scoring or assisting. There are a whole load of jobs and roles I have to do in the team first and foremost.

“They are more important to the manager than the business end.

“That is the most difficult part, sometimes it comes off and sometimes it does not.

“But there are fundamentals in our team that, if you want to play and play long minutes you have to do.

“If you don’t you are going to struggle with this manager because he is so relentless, so focused and he knows how to get the best out of you.”

Rogers continues: “I think that period just before Christmas and after Christmas is the best I have played in my career.

“You feel untouchable and are competing against some of the best players in the Premier League, which is where I want to be and what I strive to do.

“I was disappointed with the start but I think as a team we were slow as well. I look at myself in terms of next season, as to how I can start in a much better place.

“I’ve struggled a bit, at times. That is about my consistency and something I need to work on and improve on.

“I want to be the best version of myself and the best player. I still think it is a progression on last year. I have reached a height this year I don’t think I had reached before in my ability. That is a positive I can take.

“The one thing I give myself immense pride in is I have stuck at it, I have been available for every game and I have given my all in every game.

“Sometimes it might not look that way but I am trying to just play every game possible and give all I can for the team, to try and impact the game in the best way possible.”

This week, Villa will collectively look to hit heights rarely seen, while on an individual level Rogers chases a first major trophy of his career.

Should Emery’s men beat Freiburg in Wednesday night’s Europa League final they will become just the fourth team in the last decade to qualify for the Champions League through league position and win a European trophy in the same season.

Securing the first part already ranks as the finest achievement of Emery’s reign to date, not that it appears to have been noticed much outside the West Midlands.

The Villa manager was a surprise omission from the Premier League’s manager of the season shortlist and according to Rogers, not the only one overlooked.

“How hasn’t a player been nominated?” he remarks, when the subject is raised.

“I don’t know. No-one picked us to be in the top-four this season and yet everyone expects us to be there.

“It is like no-one has really stood out clearly. I don’t know. I don’t make those decisions. If I did I would definitely pick a few of our lads in there. The season we have had, the teams we have beaten and the places we have got to.

“We have always gone under the radar. We don’t have as much pressure.

“We put pressure on ourselves internally but outside the pressure is on the bigger names and the so-called bigger teams.

“We just do our business, keep plugging away, keep trying to improve. Here we are demanding with each other, in meetings, in the changing room and on the pitch.

“Outside, I suppose, whatever Villa do no-one really cares. But we like that.”

Inside the club, the desire for a trophy has never burned more brightly.

“At the start of the season we said we wanted silverware, whether it be a cup or the Europa League,” says Rogers.

“We got to the semi-final last year in the FA Cup and were disappointed with that. We thought that was a great opportunity to get over the line there.

“We got to the quarter-finals of the Champions League, semi-finals of the Conference League the year before.

“We are knocking on the door, getting so close and sniffing it. It was a big push for us this season that we wanted to do that, wanted to achieve that as a group.”

Villa battled back to beat Nottingham Forest in the semi-final. Rogers recalls looking round the dressing room following the 1-0 first leg defeat in the east Midlands and knowing what would come next.

“I saw a team that knew we had to get it right the following week (in the second leg), we knew it was something we all wanted,” he says.

“I saw it in everyone’s eyes, everyone’s demeanour. We were so angry and disappointed we lost the game but the focus was solely on that week, massively.

“You saw it in that performance. I don’t think anyone put a foot wrong.”

The 4-0 second leg win sent Villa through to just their second European final and an end to 30 years without a major trophy may be just 90 minutes away.

Having grown up in the region, Rogers knows exactly what is at stake. If he didn’t, the number of messages he has received from old friends, some of whom he has not heard from in years, confirmed it.

“It doesn’t come round often, does it?” he says. “These opportunities, this challenge springing toward us is massive. I am looking forward to it.

“It is so exciting for me to be able to do that, at home in front of my family.

“They have been to pretty much every game this season and it means a lot to me. To get over the line will be a really nice moment.”

“We have all given everything,” he adds. “We are almost on empty and we have one game to go to give it our all.”