Aston Villa boss Unai Emery has backed Ollie Watkins to regain his place in the England squad after he scored in the 2-0 win over West Ham.
Villa boost top four hopes with big win over West Ham
Watkins, who has been off colour this season, saw his World Cup dreams suffer a big blow on Friday when he was left out of Thomas Tuchel’s squad for this month’s friendlies with Uruguay and Japan.
But his second-half goal, which came after John McGinn opened the scoring, provided the perfect response on the eve of the international break.
“He’s a fighter. Three years ago, he was not involved in the national team, and he deserved to be there,” Emery said.
“Now again, he’s out, but he must recover his fight, like he did today, always doing his task.
“And when he’s doing his task, his numbers are coming like today.
“Today he fights with the centre-back, he was winning duels, he was holding up the ball and getting in the box and threatening them.
“He scored and he did a fantastic match.”
Watkins admits he expected to be dropped from Tuchel’s group after a disappointing run of form.
He said on Sky Sports: “Everyone wants to play for their country but I expected that because my form has not been that great.
“I know what I can do and when I put on an England shirt I feel like I have always performed well.”
After a run of one win in six Premier League games, this was a welcome return to form for Villa, who are now six points clear of sixth-placed Chelsea.
“We are delighted with how the players responded on the field,” Emery added. “When you are not wining everything looks more difficult and of course we needed to recover our way.
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“Today we did it, the players were fantastic. When we were winning a lot of games in a row we played similarly to how we did today.”
Villa and Hammers in race for ‘new Lautaro Martinez’
Watkins may soon have some more serious competition for his place in the Villa side as well as at international level, with the Italian media (via Sport Witness) reporting they are the ‘most likely’ to sign Bologna sensation Santiago Castro, along with Sunday’s opponents.
Both the Hammers and Villans have a financial advantage over AC Milan, who could now miss out due to Bologna’s €40m (£34.5m) price tag, which is steep for a side without the Premier League’s riches.
Castro, a 21 year-old forward who is yet to break into Argentina’s senior side, has been billed as similar to Inter star and compatriot Lautaro Martinez, who is one of the best strikers in the world.
The youngster has scored 11 times in all competitions this season, including a goal and assist in the Rossoblù’s dramatic Europa League round of 16 win against Roma, which will see them play Villa in the quarter-finals.