Aston Villa will be sweating over the fitness of Ollie Watkins after he hobbled off holding his hamstring in their Europa League win over RB Salzburg.
Watkins pulled up chasing a through ball during the first half of their league phase finale at Villa Park, grimacing as he made a look to the Villa bench.
It took another 12 minutes for Watkins to signal that he needed to be replaced, with Unai Emery replacing his star striker with Morgan Rogers.
“He felt something, but not a lot,” Emery said.
“We will test him. Hopefully, we are thinking that is not a lot. I don’t know if he will be available for Sunday.”
While Emery has downplayed the extent of the injury, his early departure could indicate a huge blow to Villa’s Premier League title hopes, and one that could have been avoided given the low stakes surrounding Thursday’s European outing.
Villa have already sealed a place in the top eight of Europe’s secondary competition, ensuring a bye into the last 16 and the avoidance of the ever-perilous knockout play-offs.
Yet despite it being all but a dead rubber, Watkins was one of the few first-choice players still selected in a team that included Emery outcast Harvey Elliott, who has been starved of game-time to prevent Villa from triggering a buy obligation in his loan deal from Liverpool.
The decision to start the England international appears to have backfired spectacularly, with TNT Sports co-commentator Martin Keown saying: “In retrospect, he should’ve been rested tonight.”
Villa are already short on strikers with back-up frontman Evann Guessand verging on a loan move to Crystal Palace, while they remain under pressure to sell players to comply with PSR.
Watkins’ substitution came moments after Villa gifted RB Salzburg a shock opener, with captain Tyrone Mings caught in possession by Edmund Baidoo in the box, who squared it to Karim Konate for a simple tap-in.
Villa would fall two behind but flipped the game on its head by the final whistle, with teenager Jamaldeen Jimoh-Aloba scoring the late winner in a 3-2 victory.
