Aston Villa centre-back Ezri Konsa backs forward Ollie Watkins to silence doubters
Aston Villa centre-back Ezri Konsa has backed forward Ollie Watkins to find his goalscoring form again after a less than impressive start to the Premier League campaign.
Watkins has scored just once so far this season and missed several golden opportunities on Sunday afternoon to win the game for the Villans.
Konsa, however, has backed Watkins to reignite his season, admitting that Sunday’s fixture against Leeds was “frustrating” for the forward.
As quoted by the Express and Star, Konsa had Watkins back, confessing the striker is his own worst critic and is fully aware that he needs to do better.
“Ollie himself knows it was a frustrating game. He had chances in the first half and the second,” said Konsa.
“Everyone can see, if you watch him closely, he gets frustrated with himself. But he brings a lot to our team. He’ll bounce back.”
Disappointing.
It’s hard to look past Watkins’ disappointing performance on Sunday afternoon, the forward was wasteful and ineffective as a lone striker.
Even the arrival of Danny Ings couldn’t prompt the 26-year-old into action, a worrying sight for Villans who will know they need goals if they stand any chance of competing this season.
Watkins looks more unreliable in the lone striker role as the weeks pass by and either Gerrard needs to change his system or drop the forward completely.
The 26-year-old is undoubtedly low on confidence, however, this is a trait every Premier League striker needs in abundance, so he needs to regain it quickly.
His hesitant nature in front of goal all but confirms this, he no longer looks capable of slotting home 1v1s against top-class goalkeepers.
Hopefully, Villa can find an answer for Watkins poor form soon, or they risk relying heavily on an experienced but ageing Ings.
In other Aston Villa news, Matty Cash reveals how his recovery is going