Aston Villa travel to Zrinjski Mostar tonight in the final game of their Europa Conference League group stage and striker Ollie Watkins has fired a warning sign to his teammates.
Unai Emery’s side have already confirmed their place in the knockout stages of the Europa Conference League but a point tonight would mean they skip a round and advance straight to the last 16.
Aston Villa are battling for success across all fronts this season and although they outlined this competition as an opportunity to win silverware, as West Ham United did in June, their incredible start in the Premier League has left supporters wondering where their priorities lie.
With their place confirmed in the knockout stages regardless, Emery has hinted at making some changes so they can rest some of their star players ahead of their trip to Brentford on Sunday.
Ollie Watkins, who has scored 13 goals in all competitions, two of which have come in the Europa Conference League, has warned his Villa teammates of the task facing them.
The Villans lost away at Legia Warsaw in their opening group-stage game so the players know how difficult is to win abroad.
Ollie Watkins fires a warning sign at Aston Villa teammates
Although tonight’s opponents are bottom of the group on three points, Watkins isn’t underestimating how difficult it’s going to be to come away with a victory.
He said: “It’s going to be a tough match,
“The experience of coming away to stadiums in Europe has always been difficult.
“Like the boss said, our first game against Legia, they made it very difficult and we didn’t come away with a victory. So, it’s not as easy as people think to come to places like this and win.
“We’ll be approaching the game with a strong mindset and respecting everyone coming into the game.”
Emery’s wholesale changes could see the likes of Leander Dendoncker, Clement Lenglet and Jacob Ramsey start this evening.
And it’s down to those fringe players to put in a strong audition for future starts in the league.
Can Aston Villa win the Europa Conference League?
If Aston Villa want to finish in the Champions League and go far in Europe this term, significant investment will be needed to aid their challenge.
A long season awaits this Villa team, who have made a magnificent start to the campaign but do need some quality reinforcements to deal with the daunting fixture schedule.
That said, West Ham sacrificed their league form to lift this trophy and Emery’s side may have to do the same.
With a place in next year’s Champions League looking like a real possibility, it’s highly unlikely that they would throw that chance away just to win the Conference League.
Nonetheless, having shown no signs of slowing down as of yet, it’ll be interesting to see if Villa can do the unthinkable by winning this competition and finishing in the top four.
