Aston Villa defender Ezri Konsa says head coach Unai Emery was right to label his players “lazy”.

Emery was furious with his side after Sunday’s 1-1 draw at 10-man Sunderland, saying: “We were lazy sometimes in defence. When we conceded, we were lazy.”

Wilson Isidor levelled with 15 minutes left after Matty Cash’s opener, with the Black Cats playing one short for an hour after Reinildo Mandava’s red card.

“Yeah, it’s a fair comment. I think everyone has seen the picture, seen the goal,” said Konsa.

“Here we pride ourselves in trying to play a high line, it is something the boss has instilled since he first came.

“We didn’t quite get it right. Things have not been good for us so far this season. But there are blips in the season and we are going through that now. Hopefully we can move on.

“When your manager doesn’t speak too well of you, it is not a good thing for you. It does bring a bit of fuel into you and you just want to play the next game as soon as possible, to prove everyone wrong. It starts from tomorrow.”

Asked if Emery had called his players lazy privately, Konsa added: “No. The boss is not a big speaker. Sometimes he keeps himself to himself.

“As players, we have been in the game a long time and we know what we need to do. It is down to us at the end of the day. We are on the pitch, not the manager. We have to figure it out for ourselves as well.”

Speaking before Bologna’s visit to Villa Park in the Europa League on Thursday, Emery said he was “angry” after the match against Sunderland.

“I was frustrated and disappointed but when I analysed it I was getting the balance,” said Emery.

“I am demanding and always trying to understand how we can feel stronger. After the match I told the players we have to be more demanding.”

The draw against Sunderland left Villa 18th in the Premier League and winless in their opening five games, out of the Carabao Cup and having scored just one league goal.

Konsa, though, says the club are not in “crisis”.

“I don’t think we are at the stage where we need to have meetings,” he said. “People will talk about crisis meetings and things like that but we have got a great captain in John McGinn, who really takes the lead in stuff like that.

“After the game, he said a few words to keep us going, to keep encouraging us. Look, we haven’t started the season well. We know that. But I’m sure it’s going to go well soon.

“It shows how far we have come over the last three years [that people have criticised Villa’s start to the season]”.

President of football operations Monchi’s departure from Villa was announced on Tuesday evening with former Real Sociedad sporting director Roberto Olabe replacing him.

Monchi wanted a break and the decision was mutual between him and the club after two years at Villa.

Emery believes the transition will be smooth with his fellow Basque countryman Olabe as they were able to replace Monchi quickly.

“It was something we were working on, knowing about while speaking with Monchi,” he said.

“After the transfer window had finished we were speaking about our relationship here, working with the club and working together.

“Then, we decided with the club and him, and with Roberto as well, to do a normal transition. Nothing has changed, only changing the man.

“We reacted quickly with one person I know personally, I have a lot of confidence with Roberto. He is coming to help us.”

Alice Tai won her fourth gold in as many days at the World Para Swimming Championships in Singapore – while Great Britain defended their mixed relay title.

Tai, 26, has won every final she has faced at this year’s Championships to date, finishing first in the women’s S8 100m backstroke, S8 400m freestyle, and S8 100m butterfly before Wednesday’s triumph in the S8 100m freestyle.

She finished ahead of Italy’s Xenia Palazzo and USA’s Jessica Long, winning in a time of one minute 05.49 seconds.

“This week is taking its toll a bit now. I’m definitely a bit tired but there’s still three days to go,” said Tai, who could another two golds to her collection on Thursday.

“I’m really happy with that time, it’s a season’s best and the fastest I’ve done since my amputation [in 2022], so I’m over the moon with it.”

William Ellard, Poppy Maskill, Dylan Broom, and Georgia Sheffield set a championship record as Great Britain won the mixed S14 4x100m freestyle in 3:41.14 – less than one second short of their own world record, set in 2021.

Great Britain have won the event at both world and Paralympic level stretching back to its introduction in 2019.

“The goal is to keep building this to LA [2028 Paralympics]. We’ve got a great team here and a lot of good people coming through, so it could be quite good for the future,” Ellard said.

There was also gold for Ellie Challis, who retained her women’s S3 50m backstroke title in a time of 53.92.

Astrid Carroll, meanwhile, beat China’s Jietong Zheng by three hundredths of a second to win silver in the women’s SB12 100m breaststroke.