Ollie Watkins is a doubt for Aston Villa’s clash with Nottingham Forest due to a thigh injury.
The England forward was substituted at half-time during Villa’s Champions League win over RB Leipzig with what boss Unai Emery described as a ‘small injury’.
Though Watkins has not found the same rhythm as last season, Emery still sees him as his first-choice No9, despite the contributions of Jhon Duran, who has 10 goals in all competitions despite starting only four times.
Watkins was due to be assessed on Wednesday and Emery will be hoping he can recover quickly.
The 28-year-old’s performance against Leipzig suggested he is approaching his best form again after a relatively slow start to the campaign.
Watkins missed nearly all of Villa’s pre-season due to his involvement with England’s Euro 2024 campaign and has often been substituted by Emery, in contrast from last season when he played the full 90 minutes in nearly every game.
At least Emery can count on Duran at the City Ground. The Colombian, who turns 21 on Friday, scored a brilliant goal in the second half at Leipzig and is desperate to show his quality in the Premier League too, after scoring the only goal against Southampton last weekend.
Duran said: ‘I am definitely not going out to celebrate my birthday because my aim is to score on Saturday to celebrate.
‘I am just happy to be here and love the competition with Ollie Watkins. When it is my turn hopefully I can step up and help the team.
‘We’re so happy to be where we are in the Champions League standings and we are almost through to the next round so we are delighted about that.’
Duran signed a new contract with a significant pay rise earlier this year, even though Villa were willing to sell him in each of the last two transfer windows.
Along with fellow forward Morgan Rogers and midfielder Boubacar Kamara, Duran is Villa’s prize financial asset in a world where clubs are striving to meet Premier League spending rules.
