In our ongoing pursuit of Champions League qualification, Aston Villa face a crunch encounter with Newcastle Utd this weekend which could prove to be a decisive meeting in the battle for a top-five finish.
Eddie Howe’s side have been in fantastic form in recent weeks and currently sit in third place in the Premier League table, with Villa having to close a five-point gap on them as we continue a fine run of form of our own.
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While it may not prove to be entirely decisive to our hopes as we could benefit from results elsewhere with a number of teams still in the hunt, there is undoubtedly a lot riding on this game for both teams, as the outcome could certainly help us kick on and achieve our ultimate objective.
With 15 goals and 12 assists in 47 appearances across all competitions so far this season, Ollie Watkins has once again played a pivotal role in our progress and pursuit of success, as the 29-year-old’s consistency and impact when leading the line for Villa has been critical to how we play and the outcome of games.
He provided a timely reminder of his quality when coming off the bench against Southampton and leading the charge in our 3-0 win last weekend, but for Watkins, the fact that he’s been left on the bench for some big games in recent weeks will surely have been a frustrating experience as Marcus Rashford has been given the nod ahead of him.
Watkins totalled just 25 minutes against Paris Saint-Germain across both legs of our Champions League quarter-final tie, while he’s been left out of the Villa XI against the Saints and Brighton in the Premier League so far this month, as well as in our FA Cup win over Preston.
Emery addressed the issue in his pre-match press conference on Friday, as the Villa boss insisted that he has to utilise the strength in depth at his disposal to make us as competitive as possible across multiple fronts, and while he reiterated Watkins’ importance, he noted that he’d rather have players who are angry about being left out than being sad in order to get the desired response from them when involved.
“We are increasing our level, we are adding more competition, we are adding more matches, we are hitting another level. Watkins is very, very important for us,” he told the media, as per BirminghamLive. “He is scoring goals, last Saturday in Southampton we were in need and his impact was fantastic. He played scoring, winning a penalty.
“We can be sad not playing, or we can be angry. I prefer angry. I am speaking about every player. Now it is very important and again I can explain it to you, like with the players.
“Four months ago we were not achieving our objective of winning matches because we didn’t have enough players. For injuries, not being fit, because maybe we weren’t really 100 per cent. That was four months ago. I can again remind you of the points we lost at home and even we only lost one match against Arsenal on the first day of the season. But we drew a lot of matches, they are points.
“Tomorrow we are playing against Newcastle, who are five points in front of us. And this is the reason we have to be very, very competitive in everything.
“But especially with Ollie Watkins I am very happy. He was, in different moments of the season, being a player in the starting XI or being a player playing only 60 minutes when Jhon Duran was here. He is adapting again to the strongest structure we are trying to get. But not only for Ollie Watkins.
“But now I am trying to get the best of the players. Trying to be intelligent using them. Being with fresh players, fresh legs on the bench, ready to play as well with a good mentality.”
Ultimately, the team comes first, and to Emery’s credit, although we eventually fell short against PSG, his rotation and combinations when making changes has worked over the past month or so as we’ve got an almost fully fit squad now, and players across the group are all contributing and making important impacts when called upon while avoiding being burnt out at the most fundamental stage of the campaign.
That said, whether he’s had a niggle or two along the way and his form has dipped at times, Watkins will feel as though he has a point to make against Newcastle on Saturday evening, provided that he does start, as he’ll have watched on and been desperate to be more involved. It’s hoped that if this is his opportunity to fire us past the Magpies, he steps up and delivers to make his case to Emery for a more prominent role again in the coming weeks in the best way possible.