WOOD YOU BELIEVE IT?
Bar-shucks! Watkins tops charts for all the wrong reasons
FAB FOXES Marc Albrighton celebrates with match-winner Daniel Amartey
LEICESTER
Mar 14 Sheff United (h) PL Mar 21 ManUnited (h) FAC Apr 3 Manc City (h) PL Apr 10 West Ham (a) PL Apr 17 West Brom (h) PL Apr 24 C Palace (h) PL May 1 Southampton (a) PL May 8 Newcastle (h) PL May 11 Man United (a) PL May 15 Chelsea (a) PL May 23 Tottenhan (h) PL
ASTON VILLA WOLVES 0 0
OLLIE WATKINS has already repaid several instalments of Aston Villa’s record £28million transfer fee.
But the 10-goal forward is in danger of finishing top of the charts for the wrong reasons.
His thunderous drive against the bar from outside the box in the fourth minute was the seventh time this season he has been denied by the woodwork.
No other Premier League player this season has been so unlucky
– but Villa boss Dean Smith managed the striker at Brentford and isn’t panicking.
He admits the forward will be frustrated by the statistic after a fifth successive game without adding to his tally.
But Smith is convinced that Watkins has the temperament and the talent to score plenty more top-flight goals this term.
He said “He won’t get too anxious. It was a great effort when he hit the crossbar. I think Ollie Watkins, whenever he walks off the pitch, is always frustrated he hasn’t scored more goals.
“That’s the type of player he is and that’s the type of lad he is. But you’ve got to be in the right areas to go and hit the woodwork and he’s getting closer and closer. “He’s in double figures already this season. He’s been a fantastic signing and he’ll just keep getting better.
“I’m certain it’s not going to worry him too much. When he’s not getting chances... that’s the time when you start worrying.”
With Jack Grealish (above) in the stands for Villa and Wolves still without striker Raul Jimenez, both clubs were without their dangerman at Villa Park.
Villa had the better of the first half and both Watkins and Ezri Konsa were denied by the woodwork. But Conor Coady hit the post for Wolves, who dominated the second half, before Romain Saiss put the rebound over from inside two yards.
Despite the second-half onslaught, the Villa defence stood firm for an impressive 14th clean sheet in the Premier League this term.
Former Arsenal goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez, who has proved such a bargain buy at £17m, made a fabulous pointblank save from Coady.
Villa’s English trio of
Tyrone Mings, Konsa and Matt Targett all impressed again at the back while Watkins put in the hard yards up front.
It cannot have gone unnoticed by England boss Gareth Southgate, who was at Villa’s recent games against Leicester and Leeds ahead of naming his latest squad this month for the World Cup qualifiers against San Marino (March 25), Albania (March 28) and Poland (March 31).
Smith added: “I’m sure there’s an awful lot of players at the moment who Gareth Southgate and his staff will be out there looking at.
“We’ve got a squad with French players, Egyptian players and South Americans. But of the regular starting XI, six or seven of those are probably English.
“I’m sure when Gareth has watched us this term he’s been impressed with the season we’ve had.
“Ezri Konsa, Matt Target and Ollie Watkins have a big opportunity to make a mark and show Gareth Southgate that they are there if he needs them.”
SHEFF UNITED SOUTHAMPTON Ward-Prowse
32 pen, Adams 49 0 2
He would love to do another 100, but that depends on his own “energy” levels, and getting a stronger squad to work with this summer.
A James Ward-Prowse penalty and Che Adams’ superb strike secured only the Saints’ second win in 15 games.
Having topped the table in November, Hasenhuttl admitted relief that such a bad run had ended, taking them well clear of a possible relegation scrap.
The Austrian took over in December 2018 and has won 38, and lost 40, of his century in charge. And he said: “One hundred games is by far the most I have done at a club so far. I was always stopping earlier because I was empty.
“I was running out of energy. Hopefully, here I can keep the energy.
“Wins here are more fun than anywhere else because they are something special for us. I enjoy every day here working. Hopefully, I have enough energy for the next three years.
“There was no reason to panic (during this difficult run). We have 33 points now and we can sleep better.”
With their best players back from injury, Saints dominated, and Hasenhuttl colourfully explained the rollercoaster nature of a table-topping, 0-9 defeat, kind of season.
“We have had ups and downs. We have had some very beautiful times, the sunshine... and sometimes it was not so nice,” he said.
“This is what you have to expect when you take over a club with the limits we have.
“I never doubted that the players supported me. We have a good relationship and they follow what we do, and I always feel this belief.
“I see in some moments, when we struggle, we are not the same side. We expect to be successful and we cannot. The goal for the future has to be a bigger squad and then we can replace injuries better. This season we had a bad run.
“Next season, we have to have a bigger squad, especially for December and January, when you have so many games coming up. We have to handle the injuries better.”
Having failed to score in eight of their past 13 matches, WardProwse stopped the rot with a penalty on 33 minutes, his seventh goal of the season. It was won by Nathan Tella, who burst into the box and was brought down by Ethan Ampadu’s desperate, last-ditch tackle to stop him shooting.
Hasenhuttl said: “Tella is the most impressive guy from our youth system. He is quick, goes for every ball. He has to keep calm when he gets a chance. His mentality is the best – never nervous but not too arrogant.”
Adams had gone 16 appearances without a goal but he produced an emphatic finish, rifling home on the half-volley from 22 yards to seal the victory just after half time (left).
“He makes the tough ones easy and the easy ones not so,” his manager added.
“I hope this turns his confidence because it is normal, when you have not scored for such a long time, to have no confidence as a striker.”