Aston Villa striker Ollie Watkins has been in red hot form this summer
Ollie Watkins of Aston Villa celebrates after scoring
Ollie Watkins of Aston Villa celebrates after scoring
Ollie Watkins says he is ready to attack the new campaign "all guns blazing" after scoring five goals in as many pre-season friendlies.
The forward bagged in each of the matches he played over the summer - three in the States against Eintracht Frankfurt, St. Louis City, and Nashville - before also scoring against AS Roma and Villarreal.
Watkins found the net 16 times in the Premier League last term but wasn’t 100 per cent fit in the opening weeks of the campaign after missing pre-season, having been dealing with an issue at Euro 2024.
This summer, Watkins has been in red-hot form and is ready to hit the ground running when the new season starts on Saturday against Newcastle United.
“I think pre-season is crucial for yourself as a player. It sets the foundations going into the season,” he told Villa TV.
“Last season I didn’t have that, I didn’t play any pre-season games, so I was playing catch up in the season. For me it is massive, so it’s nice to get your confidence up and go into the season all guns blazing.”
He added: “The last game was here [Villarreal] tonight and we’ve finished on a positive, so it puts us in good stead for the weekend.
“I’m looking forward to getting back to Villa Park, we’ve not played there in pre-season so it will be nice to play in front of a full Villa Park again.
“I’ve missed that feeling and I’m looking forward to playing many more games in the season. We have got big targets for the season. It’s a big game against Newcastle on Saturday and then we'll roll on from there.”
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