Unai Emery accused his Aston Villa players of 'relaxing' during parts of the 1-0 win over Fulham and demanded more focus while trying to protect Champions League football again.
Villa's victory brought them to points with the fifth placed Chelsea, which is opposite Liverpool on Sunday, but Emery was unhappy with areas of their display despite the 12th minute winner of Youri Tielemans.
Emery and Ezri Konsa had a furious exchange in the second half after the Villa defender had shown possession, which led to a chance of the break for Fulham.
The villa boss said: 'We started well, dominate and score, but we stopped it a bit. We started playing more backward steps and we did not progress as we had.
“We lost some easy balls. We spoke about how important it is to play in a targeted and serious way for 90 minutes. If players relax a little, we are more likely to lose
'During the break I told them that I cannot accept how we manage the match occasionally. We must be very demanding every day and be consistent, with respect for the opponent for 90 minutes. To be consistent for an entire season, you have to be consistent for 90 minutes per match. '
With the top five that qualifies for the Champions League and Chelsea opposite matches against colleague opportunities Newcastle and Nottingham Forest, Villa's rivals will drop points and if they can win their remaining luminaires against Bournemouth, Tottenham and Manchester United, the men of Emery have played their goal.
“Today we wanted to be closer to the qualification for European football, so it's fantastic,” Emery added. 'If we had not won, forget (Champions League) completely.
'The best gift we can achieve is the Champions League and we are not the favorites to get it, but we will fight for it. We now have to concentrate on Bournemouth next weekend, which is so difficult.
'Villa Park is very important and we feel so strong here. The supporters are fantastic and we can feel it is our fort. '
Fulham -Baas Marco Silva was booked with four of his players and was unhappy about the way referee Robert Jones handled the procedure.
He said: 'It was an intense game in which both teams made tactical mistakes, but only Fulham got the yellow cards, which was difficult to understand.
“When I was booked, the fourth officer said that I was too emotional. Maybe I shouldn't have spoken as hard as they accept it personally.
'Every time a villa player was injured, they stopped the game. But when that happened with Calvin Bassey in the second half, they didn't stop. I asked him why they didn't stop. They must be in balance for both parties, but the fourth official did not like the way I spoke to him. '