Ollie Watkins pinpoints key to his outstanding Aston Villa form as Luton comeback concern addressed

Ollie Watkins believes he is working smarter than ever at Aston Villa after netting two more goals in Saturday's 3-2 win at Luton Town.

Watkins netted his 15th and 16th Premier League goals of the season in the first-half of Saturday's dramatic win at Kenilworth Road, having seemingly set Villa on course for a comfortable victory. His header from a corner and clinical finish from a quick-free kick put the visitors 2-0 up inside 38 minutes but Luton fought back in the second-half to make it 2-2.

Lucas Digne snuck in at the back post to finish Moussa Diaby's cross for a late winner, but it was Watkins whose performance stood out once again. The 28-year-old now has more open play goals than anyone else in the Premier League this season and put his excellent form down to keeping his energy for the moments that matter.

“I think the manager has a lot of faith in me,” Watkins told Sky Sports. “If there are games where I'm not scoring, he keeps working with me. I feel like my understanding of the game has got a lot better, my movement and also saving energy. 

“I was pressing because I could do that but sometimes when I get the opportunity to go through on goal I'm maybe a little bit tired because I've been chasing defenders everywhere. So I’m a little bit smarter, and the mentality as well. If I miss a chance I know I'll bury the next one and I didn't have that before. I'm feeling really confident at the moment and I'm looking forward to the last stretch of the season.”

Villa were cruising towards victory going into half-time but Luton gained momentum after the break and caused a major scare, with Tahith Chong and Carlton Morris levelling the scoreline in a matter of minutes. And the comeback was deserved with Unai emery's side seeming to crumble under the pressure.

"We had the same instance at Nottingham Forest at home last week," Watkins added of the concerning moments. "They put a lot of pressure on us. I think we are a little bit too comfortable or relaxed because you have a lead. Luton pushed us to the wire tonight but Lucas [Digne] came on and got the winning goal.

"I feel maybe in the second half I was a bit sloppy. I felt we needed to stay on the ball a bit better. They were going man-to-man and in the first half we were playing it up to me and playing off me and second half the midfield wasn't close enough to me.

"We relax when we are two goals ahead and it happened at Manchester United too. It's something we need to look at. There's something happening and we need to to do something there."