Ollie Watkins calls out former Premier League striker after 19th goal of the season vs Arsenal

Ollie Watkins called out a former Premier League striker after netting his 19th goal of the season against Arsenal.

England international Watkins scored his 19th league goal of the Premier League campaign to clinch Aston Villa’s 2-0 win over Arsenal at the Emirates and boost his side’s hopes of Champions League qualification.

Watkins is now trailing Manchester City’s Erling Haaland by one goal in the race for the Golden Boot.

And after the game, the 28-year-old took to social media to call out former Watford striker Troy Deeney for his disparaging comments a week earlier.

Watkins posted a picture of himself shushing the Emirates crowd to his Instagram story, alongside the caption: “Not bad for a winger trying to be a striker.”

Last week, amid a debate regarding who out of Watkins, Dominic Solanke or Ivan Toney should be picked for this summer's European Championships, Deeney claimed Gareth Southgate should give the nod to the Brentford striker over the Villa forward.

“With Ollie, this is going to sound negative but I promise you it is not, he is a winger trying to be a striker,” he said to talkSPORT last week.

“That's just who he is. He is very good at being a striker, but when Ivan stepped up and took that penalty [versus Belgium] did you think he was going to miss? I didn't.

“Whenever Ollie runs through one-on-one during many games this season, I'm still not convinced he is going to score.

Watkins scored his 19th goal of the season against Arsenal (Getty)

“I think he will score eventually if you give him three or four shots a game. Ivan just has that borderline arrogance about him that makes me go: 'Right, stick Ivan in there.’”

Despite Deeney’s criticism of Watkins, his Aston Villa teammate Emi Martinez claimed the striker should win Premier League Player of the Season in the wake of their Arsenal victory.

"He should be a really, really good contender," Martinez told Sky Sports. "I think Ollie should win player of the season.

"When you play for a 'big six' side, you get more credit but Ollie has scored 19 goals with the chances he's got."

Topics: Aston Villa, Arsenal, Champions League, Erling Haaland, Ollie Watkins, Premier League, Troy Deeney

Chris Byfield

Sport journalist with experience writing on football, rugby, boxing and the Olympics. I'm also a Crystal Palace fan. Please don't hold this against me.