Ollie will be buzzing on Holte volts

OLLIE WATKINS’ goals tally will rocket once he is playing in front of a fan-filled Holte End.

That is the view of Villa boss Dean Smith, who has backed the rising England star, 25, to thrive in front of one of the most famous stands in English football.

Plenty of Villa strikers in the past decade have failed to live up to the pressure of playing in front of an expectant crowd, 10,000 of whom will repopulate Villa Park today.

Watkins has found the net 14 times during his debut season in the Premier League, since joining from Brentford last summer in a deal valued at £33million, and has an outside chance of making England’s Euros squad.

Smith (below) said: “If Ollie’s in that England squad, he’s earned it. If he isn’t, he’ll deal with it. I won’t have any problem picking him back up.

“Everything he does, he does well. He’s a mature lad. If he doesn’t get into this squad, he will see it as a motivation to get into the next one.

“It’s been an important season for him, one that I think will have given him a lot of confidence.

“I think the fans being in the Holte End will enable him to score more goals, too.

“He’ll love that adrenaline rush. He wants to please people, he’s that type. You can see it in his work ethic. I think it will drive him to become better.

“Don’t forget, it is the first time that Ollie’s family will have seen him play at Villa Park, too. That’s going to be a big driver for him.”

It promises to be a busy summer for Smith, who has said that he has been excited by some of the potential Villa recruits being suggested to him.

He added: “We were in a really good position in January and we have dropped a little in performances and results.

“We have improved this season. This squad is getting better.

“But we have had a long injury to Jack Grealish

(right, celebrating a goal with Watkins) – and that has been crucial in deciding where we have finished up in the table this season.

“With him absent, our creativity has dropped.

“That’s what we need to get better at.

“Hopefully, Jack will help us with that against

Chelsea.”