Aston Villa boss Unai Emery has suggested that Ollie Watkins picked up a ‘small injury’ in our win over Club Brugge.
The 29-year-old appeared to suffer a blow to his knee whilst trying to make a tackle towards the end of the first half, but after receiving treatment, he was able to continue until the half-time break.
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Unfortunately, Watkins did not return for the second half as he was replaced by Leon Bailey, and so there was concern that he had perhaps picked up a significant injury given it had ultimately forced him off in a crunch Champions League encounter.
While Emery allayed those fears to an extent in his post-match comments, the Villa boss did confirm that Watkins had sustained an injury and asked to be replaced, and so it remains to be seen if it is one that might force him to miss time, or if it was largely precautionary to avoid aggravating the issue further.
“He told us to change him because he wasn’t feeling good,” Emery is quoted as saying by BirminghamLive. “I don’t exactly know his injury, but I think it is small.”
Although it could impact his chances of featuring for England, there is an international break coming up and so that will give the Villa striker a chance to rest and recover.
Our next game comes against Preston North End in the FA Cup on March 30, and so hopefully it will prove to be a crucial break for the entire squad, albeit many will report for international duty and stay busy.
We’ll hopefully receive an update on Watkins in the coming week to determine if he is selected and will join up with the England squad or not, but with 14 goals and 12 assists in 41 appearances so far this season, we can ill-afford to be without him for any period of time given what he offers when leading the Villa line for Emery.
