Ollie Watkins knows his current form has not been good enough to get in Thomas Tuchel’s latest England squad.
The Aston Villa forward was left out of the expanded 35-man squad for the Three Lions’ upcoming friendlies against Uruguay and Japan having scored just one goal in his past nine Premier League matches.
It leaves question marks over whether 30-year-old Watkins’ hopes of going to a first World Cup are hanging in the balance.
“Everyone wants to play for their country but I expected that because my form has not been that great,” Watkins said after Sunday’s comfortable 2-0 win against West Ham, Villa’s first after a run of three Premier League defeats.
“I know what I can do and when I put on an England shirt I feel like I have always performed well.”
Against West Ham, Watkins showed Tuchel just what he is missing as he ended a six-match goal drought in the league.
He provided a constant threat and was unlucky not to find the net with more of his five efforts, twice dragging shots just wide.
But in contrast to last season’s tally of 17 goals and 14 assists, Watkins’ 10 goals and two assists in all competitions this campaign look meagre.
He knows he is running out of time to impress the England boss and, absent from the national team’s final training camp before the World Cup, he also knows his only way to get back in Tuchel’s good books is by scoring for his club.
“One thing with Watkins you can always rely on is his endeavour and his willingness to keep running the channels and keep doing the right things for the team,” said former Liverpool midfielder Danny Murphy.
“That’s a huge thing that Tuchel will keep an eye on. I don’t think he’s completely out of it yet.”
