Aston Villa's Ollie Watkins: England axe was a 'blessing in disguise'

Ollie Watkins has described being dropped by England in March as a “blessing in disguise” following his blistering finish to the season with Villa.

The striker was omitted from Thomas Tuchel’s squad for friendlies against Uruguay and Japan after struggling for form, before then scoring 11 goals in 12 matches to give the Three Lions boss no option but to take him to the World Cup.

Watkins, whose goals helped Villa secure a fourth-placed Premier League finish and win the Europa League, now says he is “thankful” for being left out.

“My form was picking up but it was a blessing in disguise,” he said.

“Sometimes when something gets taken away from you, you realise how important it is and it puts fire in your belly and to show people what you can do.

“It was a case of proving to myself what I could do. The manager always had faith in me. So, it is nice I could repay him with the performances and goals and to show I deserved to be here.”

Watkins explained how doubts about his fitness had contributed to his struggles through the first two-thirds of the season.

The 30-year-old, Villa’s top scorer in the last six seasons, found the net only eight times in his first 39 appearances this term.

He said: “I think before the start of the season, physically, I was not at my best and when you are not feeling, a player like me has to be agile and moving around and do repeated sprints. If I am not feeling at my best, that is my superpower.

“That was playing with my mind. I am getting older and that is something I had to deal with and I shifted that and overcame that. I knew the performances and goals would flow at a crucial time of the season and I am feeling my best going into the World Cup.”

England trained for the first time since arriving in the USA on Monday. They play friendlies against New Zealand and Costa Rica in Florida before their opening Group L fixture against Croatia on Wednesday, June 17.

Watkins is eager to play his part, adding: “I feel like, physically, I am the best I have ever been and my form in front of goal is really good at the moment so I am feeling really strong and everyone has got a part to play in this competition whether it is early stages or latter stages but we have to be ready and we are all working together as a team to achieve something special.

“When I am consistently scoring and even when I was not scoring, I was still bringing stuff to the team.

“But I felt in the big moments, when the team needed me, I stepped up and came up with some big goals and some big performances.”