England might not play again until the summer but Thursday night would have brought a smile to Thomas Tuchel’s face.
The England manager watched his side labour for goals without captain and record goalscorer Harry Kane during last month’s friendlies against Uruguay and Japan.
It once again underlined Tuchel’s limited options when it comes to an alternative for 32-year-old Kane, with the World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico a little more than two months away.
So he would have been very happy to find out Ollie Watkins had come up with two more goals for Aston Villa in their 3-1 win against Bologna in the Europa League quarter-final first leg in Italy.
The Villa forward was left out of the expanded 35-man England squad by Tuchel in March, having scored just one goal in his previous nine Premier League matches.
“Watkins is not with us but this is more down to the fact that I know what he can bring to the group – I know him very well,” Tuchel said during the squad announcement.
Despite the comments, the striker’s hopes of making it to the World Cup were left in doubt.
Watkins’ response to the setback has been nothing short of emphatic, with the 30-year-old adding to the goal he scored against West Ham in the Premier League just before the international break.
“It’s the back end of the season and I’m raring to go,” Watkins told TNT Sports after Villa moved one step closer to a place in a European semi-final.
“I could play another 90 minutes. I’m excited for the next few games. I’m hungry.”
After Ezri Konsa’s opener against the run of play in Bologna, Watkins eased Villa’s nerves with a second early in the second half as he pounced on a mistake from Torbjorn Heggem and finished through the legs of goalkeeper Federico Ravaglia.
After the Serie A side then scored a late goal through Jonathan Rowe in the 90th minute, Watkins restored Villa’s two-goal advantage in the 94th minute from a corner, before the return leg at Villa Park next Thursday (20:00 BST).
