The Aston Villa striker has not been called up to the England squad for the upcoming World Cup qualifiers
Ollie Watkins celebrates scoring for England
Ollie Watkins celebrates scoring for England(Image: John Walton/PA Wire)
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Thomas Tuchel has revealed Ollie Watkins was left out of the England squad for fitness reasons.
The Aston Villa striker has been omitted from the Three Lions set-up as they prepare for World Cup qualifiers against Serbia and Albania.
He was in the squads for the two previous international breaks and has made 15 appearances for his club this term, including 11 starts, albeit he has scored only one goal.
Villa have not said anything about Watkins' fitness but Tuchel claimed today the 29-year-old is managing an injury situation.
The comments came after he named just one striker, Harry Kane, in the group for the two dead rubber qualifying matches.
"No one needs to be nervous, we have a lot of good strikers. Ollie is one of them," he said.
"We just understand and we could observe it when we watched Ollie closely that he is playing through discomfort at the moment.
"It simply didn't make too much sense to bring him into camp in this condition.
"We then opted for the option to give him this break to get treatment and to be back in full physical capacity and in best shape, and then fight for the place again in March."
Watkins picked up a knock when he played for England against Wales but came back to his club and then started on the bench first game back against Tottenham. He has started regularly since.
What have you made of Watkins' performances this season? Have your say here