Villa struggled against the Bees, with Dango Ouattara marking his Brentford debut with a goal in the 12th minute, which was enough to seal all three points.

The result also saw Villa fail to win either of its opening two games in a Premier League season for the first time since 2019-2020, while it previously failed to score a single goal across these two matches in 2002-2003.

Villa has made just three signings this summer, headlined by the capture of Evann Guessand from Nice as it looks to comply with Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR).

It has been linked with a move for Chelsea striker Nicolas Jackson, and Emery is hoping Villa will be able to freshen up the squad before the deadline.

"We have to improve things," he said. "We have to clarify some circumstances we have in the transfer window.

"We have enough players, but we need to clarify some circumstances with some players staying or not or and the possibility we can have to add someone to help us."

Emery offered no defence of his side's display, having watched them rarely trouble Caoimhin Kelleher in the Brentford goal. 

"Today we competed bad. It was not enough and we conceded some minutes on the field that we have to try and avoid," he added. "We are not like we want.

"The first 20 minutes, we weren't performing and playing with the intensity we needed and conceding one goal is more difficult. Today we are very disappointed with the result."

Brentford won its second Premier League game against Aston Villa and has now won its first home match of the season in eight of its 10 top flight campaigns, drawing the other two.

For manager Keith Andrews, it was his first win as Brentford boss.

"I'm very proud of the team," he said.

"It was scrappy and ugly at times - and I loved it. We made it into a game they didn't want.

"We were very comfortable behind the ball. The desire to keep the ball out of the back of the net, it was selfless work from so many players."

Andrews refused to be drawn on the future of forward Yoane Wissa, with the striker left out of the squad amid transfer speculation surrounding a move to Newcastle United.

"I spoke about Wiss before the game. I'm not really interested in speaking about him after the game," Andrews added.

"It's about the players who played today who played with so much heart."