Unai Emery has backed Ollie Watkins to find his best form in time to haul Aston Villa into next season’s Champions League.
Watkins has looked well below-par for much of this season, yet he has still managed eight goals in the league.
Yet with Tammy Abraham making an impressive start to his second spell at Villa, Watkins is now under pressure for his starting place for Friday’s meeting at Wolves, the Premier League’s bottom club.
Even though he chose Jhon Duran and Marcus Rashford ahead of Watkins at different times last season, this term Emery has been unwavering in his support of the 30-year-old.
He said: ‘There are still matches to play and I believe he will achieve his objective, scoring goals and adding more assists.
‘We have enough matches to play. Our challenges are collective, but the players must get them by producing individual numbers for the team.
Ollie Watkins has rarely found top form yet he has still scored eight times this season
‘I have massive respect for Ollie Watkins and massive respect for Tammy Abraham. They are both fantastic strikers.
‘Whoever plays tomorrow (Friday), or if they play together, they must perform and focus on our gameplan to achieve three points.
‘Our challenge is to help our offensive players score more goals. It’s not only about them. It’s about the structure we have, to help them to feel comfortable and confident, and create more in the attacking third.’
Emery also warned Villa not to be complacent against the Premier League’s bottom club – due to his own winless record at Molineux.
The Spaniard has never won at Molineux as manager of Arsenal or Villa, losing three of his four games there and drawing the other.
‘We’ve been together three-and-a-half years, and we’ve drawn twice at Molineux and lost once,’ recalled Emery. ‘When I was at Arsenal, we were 3-0 down at half-time (before losing 3-1).
‘We beat them 1-0 earlier in the season and we didn’t deserve to win. They’ve lost some other games, against Chelsea and Bournemouth, where they haven’t deserved to lose.
‘In their last home game, they drew with Arsenal, the best team in the Premier League and maybe the world.
‘Everything we have analysed makes us feel it is not an easy game, and it’s also a derby. They will want to show what they can do in front of their own fans.’
