Unai Emery expresses belief in Aston Villa striker as he mulls Wolves derby selection call
Unai Emery has reaffirmed his belief in Ollie Watkins but stopped short of guaranteeing the striker a start in Friday’s derby at Wolves.
Watkins is under pressure after scoring just once in his last 10 appearances, with January signing Tammy Abraham having netted on each of the last two weekends.
Speaking on Thursday, Emery refused to give any clues which of the two would get the nod against Wolves, suggesting they could even be paired together from the start.
But he is confident Watkins, the club’s all-time Premier League top scorer, can recover top form in the final third of what has been his toughest campaign at the club.
The 30-year-old has found the net only eight times in total and Emery said: “There are still matches to play. I believe he will achieve his objective, scoring goals and adding more assists.
“I believe in it. We have enough matches to play. Our challenges are mainly collectively and individually as well.
“But that is for myself and the players. They must get it, those challenges individually, adding numbers for the team.”
Abraham scored his first goal since joining in an £18.2million move from Besiktas when he netted in a 3-1 FA Cup defeat to Newcastle, following it up by coming off the bench to score a late equaliser in last weekend’s 1-1 draw with Leeds.
That was just the third goal Villa have scored in their last four league matches and Emery believes it is the responsibility of every player, not just the strikers, to help reclaim the team’s attacking rhythm.
“Our challenge is how we can help our offensive players to create better chances, or more attacking options to score goals,” he said.
“The responsibility is not only for them. It is the structure we have, how we can help them to feel comfortable and confident and creating more options in the attacking third and better ways to link with them or help them, to exploit their qualities.
“Sometimes we can maybe miss some chances. Sometimes not. We are analysing it, how we can get better.
“Of course, Watkins showed his capacity to score goals for a long time and Tammy as well. We must help them. The responsibility is mine, how we can get better offensively.”
Villa’s struggles in front of goal have coincided with improved defensive performances.
Emery’s team have conceded fewer goals than any team in the top flight since the turn of the year and the boss continued: “We are so, so happy how we are performing defensively. We are conceding fewer chances and sometimes it is enough but sometimes not.
“In the balance, we can feel good. But it is not enough. We must achieve our better way by analysing and understanding.
“I have massive respect for Ollie Watkins and massive respect for Tammy Abraham, they are both fantastic strikers.
“Tomorrow one or another, or both together, they must perform and focus with their gameplan to achieve three points.”
Emery’s attacking options have been boosted by the return of teenage winger Alysson to fitness.
The £10m January signing from Gremio is expected to return to the bench at Molineux after missing the last two matches. Right-back Andres Garcia is absent with a hamstring injury.
