Unai Emery has eased injury concerns over Ollie Watkins after the Aston Villa star was forced off before half-time in the Europa Conference League win over Ajax.
Villa cruised into the quarter-finals of the competition after a thumping 4-0 win over Ajax on Thursday night.
Watkins opened the scoring at Villa Park but there were major concerns when he was replaced before half-time.
The striker attempted to close down a free kick in the early stages of Thursday’s last 16 second leg clash but collided with goalkeeper Diant Ramaj in the process.
Watkins was seen calling to the bench for treatment, clutching his left knee before being helped off the pitch. He received further treatment on the sidelines with heavy strapping attached to his knee before re-entering the fray.
The 28-year-old appeared to have shaken off the knock, rising to head home his side’s equaliser after 25 minutes.
His joy was short lived however, collapsing to the ground shortly after before being replaced by Jhon Duran eight minutes after his goal.
Speaking at full-time, however, Emery was confident his star man had avoided serious injury, believing he could even be in contention when his side take on West Ham United on Sunday.
‘Yes, I don’t know exactly what the danger of them is,’ Emery told TNT Sport. ‘Watkins was injured but maybe not for Sunday, I think he could be available.’
Leon Bailey, who scored Villa’s second goal on the night, described the knock as ‘really bad’ but suggested he had suffered a cut rather than any ligament or muscle damage.
‘When I saw it, it was really bad. It was a wound, it was really open. I didn’t want him to come off,’ the Jamaica international said.
Earlier on Wednesday, Watkins was named in Gareth Southgate’s England squad for upcoming friendlies against Brazil and Belgium.
The striker has scored 21 times this season, 16 of those coming in the Premier League, in what has been a terrific campaign under Emery with Villa in contention for Champions League qualification.
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