Watkins on Everton winner and clean sheet

Ollie Watkins is aiming to build on his matchwinner at Everton and help fire Aston Villa up the Premier League table.

Watkins raced on to Morgan Rogers’ throughball and slotted home the only goal of the game at Goodison Park in the 51^st minute.

It was the England international’s ninth league goal of the season, to go with seven assists in all competitions.

And, having sealed Villa’s third consecutive victory, Watkins is keen to hit the goal trail.

“Obviously this season it hasn’t been free-flowing like last season, but I keep putting myself in the areas and eventually I’ll score,” he told VillaTV.

“And just build on that now, focus on getting to that 20 (goals) mark and helping the boys to fight for Champions League again.”

Reflecting on the battle against Everton: “It’s always really tough when we come here, they put a lot of pressure on us, obviously a new manager, you get a bit of a buzz, a bit of excitement.

“The fans made it difficult for us, very hostile, and they created a few chances and there were a lot of battles to be won.

“I felt like we coped with it really well, and although we didn’t play the best football, we got three points and that’s the most important thing.”

Villa’s last-ever league trip to Everton’s iconic home saw the club move 12 top-flight matches unbeaten against the Toffees, a run stretching back to 2019.

It is the first time Villa have started a calendar year with back-to-back Premier League wins since 2009.

A first success on the road in the league since October also saw the Villans record a first clean sheet since early December, something not lost on Watkins.

“Really important,” said the striker.

“I’ve felt for Emi (Martínez) in recent weeks, obviously he loves keeping a clean sheet and he’s been desperate to do that.

“Recent weeks we haven’t done it.

“Obviously away as well, our form hasn’t been great, we knew that coming into this game was going to be difficult.

“So, we wanted to correct that, put it right and we ground it out. Emi’s got his clean sheet and three points.”