Aston Villa are monitoring Ollie Watkins after he was advised to not return to the field of play following half time in Saturday evening’s victory over Wolverhampton Wanderers at Villa Park. Villa, leading 1-0 at the break thanks to Moussa Diaby, eventually ran out 2-0 winners thanks to Ezri Konsa’s second half finish.
Watkins complained of discomfort in his hamstring at the interval and Unai Emery was informed that it would be best to not take any risks and that Watkins ought to be replaced. Emery followed that advice and introduced Jhon Duran from the bench.
The England striker, who played 90 minutes against Brazil last Saturday before coming off the bench to help create Jude Bellingham’s stoppage time equaliser against Belgium this past week. Watkins’ importance to Villa this term is unquestionable – he has delivered 32 goals contributions in 42 appearances.
What Unai Emery said
“He was feeling something, hamstring, more or less, and he was telling us he could carry on playing but the doctor told us it was better not to play with risk and we decided to stop him. Tomorrow [Sunday] we will check him and maybe its his hamstring, we hope not a lot, but we will see.”
The severity of the injury
That’ll come to the surface in the next couple of days, prior to Villa’s trip to top four rivals Manchester City on Wednesday evening. With hamstrings, there are different grades – the higher the number, the more severe the injury. According to the NHS, the official descriptions for each grade read…
Mild hamstring strains (grade 1) will usually cause sudden pain and tenderness at the back of your thigh. It may be painful to move your leg, but the strength of the muscle should not be affected.
Partial hamstring tears (grade 2) are usually more painful and tender. There may also be some swelling and bruising at the back of your thigh and you may have lost some strength in your leg.
Severe hamstring tears (grade 3) will usually be very painful, tender, swollen and bruised, making it difficult to walk and stand. There may have been a “popping” sensation at the time of the injury and you’ll be unable to use the affected leg.
The one encouragement for Villa and Emery is that Watkins, by the Spaniard’s own admission, wished to continue playing. Clearly, if Watkins’ issue had been one of the more severe grades, continuing to play would have been out of the question. Hopefully, Watkins’ twinge is closer to a grade one, a strain. There is also a grade 0 issue, which is described as ‘representing focal neuromuscular pain and generalized muscle pain caused by exercise’.
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