Ollie Watkins injury: Unai Emery reveals latest on Aston Villa striker before Bournemouth trip

Aston Villa boss Unai Emery is hopeful that Ollie Watkins will play against Bournemouth this weekend.

The England striker was a surprise absentee from high-flying Villa’s squad for Thursday night’s Europa Conference League meeting with Legia Warsaw, with Moussa Diaby and the fit-again Alex Moreno on target in a hard-fought 2-1 win that saw the hosts leapfrog their Polish opponents to the summit of Group E with only one match left to play.

However, the game was marred by “disgusting and highly dangerous scenes” scenes outside Villa Park as four police officers were injured and 39 people arrested during clashes with Legia fans – who were subsequently denied entry to the stadium.

Villa did not miss top scorer Watkins in the end on Thursday evening, with Colombian forward Jhon Duran starting alongside Diaby in attack instead.

However, Emery will be keen to have the former Brentford frontman – who has scored twice as many goals as any other Villa player so far this term – back in the fold for Sunday’s trip to Bournemouth as his side look to continue a stunning run of form.

Villa went above Tottenham and into the top four after another rousing 2-1 win in north London last weekend, with Watkins netting his 12th of the season to complete a brilliant turnaround.

Quizzed on his absent star striker after the win over Legia, Emery revealed that his omission in Europe was a mix of injury and the need for a rest amid a congested fixture list.

Ollie Watkins is Aston Villa’s top scorer so far this season with 12 goals to his name (REUTERS)

“Both,” Emery said. “He had yesterday small pain. Not very strong. We decided as well to rest him.”

Asked if Watkins would be fit to face a Bournemouth team that have registered back-to-back wins in recent weeks to move away from relegation danger, the Spaniard added: “We will test him, but hopefully yes.

“He was not available because 50 per cent in training he felt something, we didn’t want to take a risk. We also wanted to get minutes with Jhon Duran.”

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