Ollie Watkins sends frank demand to Aston Villa team-mates after Man City loss

Aston Villa striker Ollie Watkins has urged his team-mates to brush off the agony of their late loss against Manchester City in order to make it to the FA Cup final

Ollie Watkins says Aston Villa must forget the disappointment of their late defeat at Manchester City and focus on reaching the FA Cup final. Villa conceded in the 94th minute to go down 2-1 at City on Thursday in a major setback to their hopes of finishing in the top five and qualifying for the Champions League.

But Villa striker Watkins, who was left out of the starting line-up for the fourth time in five games on Tuesday, said Unai Emery’s players must now focus on beating Crystal Palace on Saturday.

“We have to move on to the weekend now, focus on the FA Cup and a big game at Wembley,” said Watkins. “We all want to win a trophy so all eyes on that.

“I think this is the furthest we’ve got in the FA Cup since I’ve been at the club. We’ve always gone out quite early doors and it’s disappointing. You want to win these competitions and it’s nice that we’re in the latter stages of it.

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“I’ve been saying to the boys one thing I set my eyes on when I joined the club was winning a trophy. It’s been so long since the club has done that and that’s the main aim, so Saturday is massive and we will be doing all we can to get to the final.

“Obviously, Palace have been a bit of a bogey team for us, but on our day we’re capable of beating anyone and everyone is looking forward to that, so just bring on the weekend.”

Watkins voiced his frustration at the weekend over Emery’s decision to bench him for recent games and doubled down on his stance. “I was just saying, from my point of view, that every player wants to play,” said Watkins.

“I think there would probably be a worry if I said ‘I’m happy to just sit on the bench and don’t want to play’.I think I’d be getting a bit of backlash, so just say it as it is.

“We never know who’s going to play. Sometimes the manager will tell us 30 minutes before we leave the hotel to head to the stadium.

“He tells us the team then, so everyone just has to be prepared and you never know what’s going to happen.”

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