Former Premier League midfielders Andy Townsend & Nigel de Jong full of praise for Ollie Watkins in City loss

Former Aston Villa midfielder Andy Townsend and former Premier League winner Nigel de Jong were both full of praise for Ollie Watkins following Wednesday night’s 2-1 defeat to Manchester City.

The forward may have been on the losing side but he bagged his second goal in three games under new manager Steven Gerrard and looks to have found a new lease of life at Villa Park.

Both strikes have come in successive home games and what strikes they were at that. A worldie against Brighton and a clinical finish to get his side back into the game on Wednesday evening.

He’s a man that is playing with bags of confidence at this moment of time and it isn’t going unnoticed with former Villa man Townsend claiming that the team needed to get him more involved in the defeat to City.

“I thought he was terrific and I would have liked to have seen Villa go into him a little bit more, a little bit quicker,” he said.

“I think he’s good enough even in the best company, even against the best defenders. I think he can get his body in and he holds it up very well.

“He allows the team to get up the park.

“They over-complicated it a little bit too much trying to play out from the back and they created their own problems at time Villa but certainly Ollie Watkins performance was one that I thought that was very, very good this evening.

“I agree with the guys [in the studio], I thought he was Villa’s best player.”

And he wasn’t alone.

Former Manchester City midfielder de Jong was in full agreement, adding that he thought he was the best player on the night in claret & blue.

“More and more he’s becoming the complete package as a striker,” explained the Dutchman.

“Stevie G can be very happy that he’s got a striker like that in the squad

“He can be a target man and hold the ball up and also make sure the team can come forward into the opposition half.

“He’s a great player with a lot of potential and by far the best player on Aston Villa’s side.”

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