Darren Bent: Ollie Watkins’ chances of making England’s World Cup squad are ‘zero’ after poor Aston Villa form
Ollie Watkins has struggled for form at Aston Villa this season, and Darrent Bent believes it’s cost him any chance of making the England squad.
Watkins struggled on Sunday afternoon against Leeds United, with the 26-year-old presented a number of huge chances he was simply unable to convert.
With just one goal to his name this season, former Villa forward Darrent Bent believes he’s fallen well behind other English strikers in Gareth Southgate’s pecking order.
“I don’t think he’s got any chance now. He’s got one goal this season,” said Bent, as quoted by Birmingham Live.
“He’s up against Ivan Toney who’s playing incredibly well. You’ve got the England captain, Harry Kane, and he’ll never get ahead of him.
“You’ve got Tammy Abraham who’s playing really well for Roma so, right now, his chances now are zero. You’ve also got the emergence of Rashford’s form who can play wide or down the middle. Watkins’ form has just deserted him and his eye for goal has deserted him in this last period. (Villa) need to get back to winning ways and back to basics.”
Focus on Villa
Bent is right, Watkins could enjoy the form of his life in the next few weeks and he’d still struggle to make Southgate’s final World Cup squad.
So for now, he simply needs to focus on his club football and listen to Bent’s advice: going back to basics.
No one can deny Watkins is a great goalscorer on his day, but he’s simply too wasteful at times and can let games slip away from him.
He’s reached double figures for goals in the last two seasons (11 & 14), but looks nowhere close to replicating that this season.
Regardless, Steven Gerrard has kept faith with Watkins in his starting lineup. While his finishing is currently missing, Watkins is at least putting in the dirty, defensive work to help the side churn out points.
But if Villa are to climb the table – and Gerrard is to keep his job – the side needs to find goals somewhere. Scoring six goals in eight fixtures is unacceptable, and Watkins is the one who will need to step up to the plate.
With Nottingham Forest, Fulham and Brentford in the next four games, there’s plenty of opportunity for Watkins to break his drought and add to his tally.
In other Aston Villa news, Ace Matty Cash is now in contention to play against his former side