Ollie Watkins fitness worry emerges at Aston Villa as Alan Brazil speaks out on talkSPORT
Ollie Watkins must step up for Aston Villa to help his side progress from their Europa Conference League clash v Ajax on 14 March.
The striker was unable to find the net in the first leg in Amsterdam, with the teams drawing 0-0 and setting up an intense second leg at Villa Park.
TalkSPORT host Alan Brazil has questioned the striker’s fitness as he shared his view that he looked tired against Tottenham, as he explained he is worried about Villa’s recent form.
Speaking live on talkSPORT [14 March, 6:15], Brazil shared: “I wonder about Villa at the moment. I worry about them a wee bit.
“They were playing fantastic free-flowing football and have just lost their way a bit. I wonder if Watkins is going to be fit because it looked to me like he was struggling in his last game. He’s a top player.”
Ollie Watkins must step up for Aston Villa against Ajax
The two sides head into the second leg both with hopes of progressing after a frustrating 0-0 draw in the first game where only Emi Martinez shone, but Villa will be relying on their main man to put in a stronger showing than his display at the Johan Cruyff Arena.
Watkins played all 90 minutes in Amsterdam but completed just six passes in the game as he struggled to get involved in the play, with 19 touches resulting in him losing the ball seven times. [Sofascore]
On top of that, the striker was rarely successful in his duels as he won just six from 18 attempted at a 33 per cent success rate – a stat that becomes even worse when you see he won just one of seven attempted ground duels.
He did, however, pull off one key pass to create an opportunity for his teammate, as well as drawing one foul to help drag his team up the pitch, but with one foul also given away and a 0 per cent dribble success rate, it was far from his best performance this season.
If Brazil is correct and Watkins is struggling with the number of fixtures he has been asked to play, the potential return of Jhon Duran [Jacob Tanswell, 5 March] could provide some welcome respite if he is fit to return to Emery’s side at Villa Park.
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