Ollie Watkins is determined to earn a place in England's World Cup squad as the Aston Villa striker looks to end the toughest season of his career on a high.
The 30-year-old has struggled to reach his best this term and the Euro 2024 semifinal hero was surprisingly left out of the final camp before Thomas Tuchel names his squad for this summer.
Watkins bounced back with a brace in Villa's 3-1 first-leg win at Bologna in Thursday's Europa League quarter-final and vowed to fight for a World Cup spot as Unai Emery's side vie for continental glory.
"We've got a massive tournament in the summer," he told the BBC. "I'm doing all I can to get there, score some more goals before the end of the season and hopefully be in that World Cup squad."
Watkins knows he has been below par this season, with this week's brace taking him to 12 goals in 44 club appearances in all competitions.
Ollie Watkins scored twice against Bologna in the Europa League. Getty "The toughest moment for me has probably been, throughout all my career, I would say this season," he said. "Just because I've done so well to get to where I am.
"Getting to the Premier League, we had a bit of a dip, I scored goals and then you set that expectation of where I think I hit a new level and scoring goals and Europe as well.
"That goal after the Euros, I think there's more eyes on you then and then this year I haven't been at the level I wanted to, so to learn to deal with that is hard."
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Watkins has a good support network around him and has spoken to other players during this down period, including former England striker Michael Owen after following him back on Instagram.
"I messaged him and we just had a chat," he said. "He was just saying he just feels like when I play angry and I'm being a nuisance, that's when I'm at my best, so I just try and bring that to the table as much as possible."