Ollie Watkins put too much pressure on himself amid Aston Villa goal drought, says Dean Smith
Striker scored for the first time in two-and-a-half months as Villa beat Newcastle on Saturday
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Your support makes all the difference.Aston Villa manager Dean Smith has said Ollie Watkins might have put too much pressure on himself to score goals for his new club since joining ahead of this season.
Watkins became an out-and-out striker at Brentford and netted 25 goals in the Championship last term, which was his final campaign with the club before his transfer to Villa.
The 25-year-old scored six in his first seven Premier League outings for Villa, including a hat-trick as his new side downed champions Liverpool 7-2 in October and a brace against Arsenal, but he then went two-and-a-half months without a goal.
READ MORE: Premier League table and fixtures – all games by date and kick-off time
Watkins ended his nine-game drought with the opener in Villa’s 2-0 win against Newcastle on Saturday but Smith insists nobody at the club was questioning his record – except the striker himself.
“All goalscorers and centre-forwards will tell you they’re not that worried [about not scoring], but really they just want to score goals and Ollie is the same,” Smith said ahead of Villa’s trip to Burnley on Wednesday evening.
“His mentality has changed since he became a centre-forward at Brentford last season and his mentality is now about scoring goals.
“I’ve said it before that his work ethic has endeared him to all staff members and players here. Nobody was putting any pressure on him apart from himself.”
Villa snapped a three-match losing run to put more pressure on Newcastle head coach Steve Bruce, but they travel to Turf Moor to face opponents high on confidence after Burnley brought Liverpool’s long unbeaten home run to an end.
Smith, though, was encouraged by Villa’s performance against the Magpies, insisting they have shown they are capable of winning games in different ways.
“It’s not always about being gung-ho and cavalier,” Smith told the club’s website.
“It would have been very easy with the form that Newcastle were in to go with a very attacking system, but I just felt we needed to be solid as well, pick up second balls and play from there.
“We’ve got different ways that we can win games now, which is probably the most pleasing thing. We’ve got a good organisation and structure so that when players come in, they know their roles and can do a really good job.”
John McGinn returns from a one-match suspension while fellow midfielder Jack Grealish is available despite coming off late on at the weekend – much to his chagrin – as a precaution because of a tight hamstring.
Defender Kortney Hause (foot) and forward Wesley (knee) will miss the trip to take on a Burnley side who have overcome a difficult start to the campaign to move seven points clear of the relegation zone.
“Burnley are a very resolute team, and they don’t concede many against anyone. They’ve had an unbelievable result against Liverpool, so it’s going to be a real tough game again,” Smith added.
PA
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