Unai Emery has confirmed that Ollie Watkins is fit again after a minor hamstring issue, giving Aston Villa a timely boost as they aim to return to winning form away at Bournemouth.
The 30-year-old striker, who has eight goals from 33 appearances in all competitions this season, was forced off after 35 minutes of last Thursday’s Europa League tie against RB Salzburg. He subsequently sat out Villa’s unexpected 1-0 home defeat to his former club Brentford, but the England international is now in contention to start at the Vitality Stadium on Saturday.
When asked about Watkins’ availability, Emery said: “Yes. He rested last week because he had a small injury and wasn’t ready to play. This week he has gradually rejoined us, trained normally, and today he trained fully.”
Villa will still be without John McGinn, Youri Tielemans, Boubacar Kamara and Andres Garcia, while January arrival Alysson is not yet ready to make his debut. However, Amadou Onana could feature after remaining on the bench against Brentford.
“Amadou Onana wasn’t 100 per cent last week,” Emery explained. “Lamare Bogarde is always doing his job and helping us a lot, but he needs to keep improving.”
Bogarde, 19, is currently sidelined with a knee injury and has yet to agree an extension to his contract, which expires at the end of the season. Both Aston Villa and local rivals West Brom are monitoring his situation ahead of a possible pre-contract move, with Villa having previously secured Rangers youngster Rory Wilson in similar circumstances.










