Aston Villa sweat over Ollie Watkins injury in potentially huge blow to Premier League title hopes | OneFootball

Aston Villa will be sweating over the fitness of Ollie Watkins after he hobbled off holding his hamstring in their Europa League clash with RB Salzburg.

Watkins pulled up chasing a through ball during the first half of their league phase finale at Villa Park, grimacing as he made a look to the Villa bench.

It took another 12 minutes for Watkins to signal that he needed to be replaced, with Unai Emery replacing his star striker with Morgan Rogers.

While the extent of his injury is not yet known, his early departure could indicate a huge blow to Villa’s Premier League title hopes, and one that could have been avoided given the low stakes surrounding Thursday’s European outing.

Villa have already sealed a place in the top eight of Europe’s secondary competition, ensuring a bye into the last 16 and the avoidance of the ever-perilous knockout play-offs.

Yet despite it being all but a dead rubber, Watkins was one of the few first-choice players still selected in a team that included Emery outcast Harvey Elliott, who has been starved of game-time to prevent Villa from triggering a buy obligation in his loan deal from Liverpool.

The decision to start the England international appears to have backfired spectacularly, with TNT Sports co-commentator Martin Keown saying: “In retrospect, he should've been rested tonight."

Emery will be expected to provide an update on Watkins’ injury after full-time.

Villa are already short on strikers with back-up frontman Evann Guessand verging on a loan move to Crystal Palace, while they remain under pressure to sell players to comply with PSR.

Watkins’ substitution came moments after Villa gifted RB Salzburg a shock opener, with captain Tyrone Mings caught in possession by Edmund Baidoo in the box, who squared it to Karim Konate for a simple tap-in.