Ollie Watkins deserves to play for England in their next set of fixtures.
That is the view of former Aston Villa and Liverpool attacker Stan Collymore, who believes Watkins should be one of the first names on Gareth Southgate’s teamsheet for England’s upcoming games against Australia and Italy.
Set to welcome Australia to Wembley on 13 October, the two nations will play a friendly before the Three Lions host Luciano Spalletti’s Italy four days later in a European Championship qualifier.
And although Bayern Munich’s Harry Kane is set to remain his national manager’s first-choice striker, Collymore thinks it is time Watkins, who scored an emphatic hat-trick against Brighton on the weekend, was given a chance to prove his worth.
“There is no way Watkins cannot be considered for an England call-up later this month – it’d be his eighth senior cap and he deserves it,” Collymore said in an exclusive interview.
“Harry Kane cannot be our only dependable striker. We need options and back-ups, and Watkins, in my opinion, is the best of the rest – at least right at this very minute.
“England have two international matches coming up including a friendly. If Southgate doesn’t want to risk playing him in a European Championship qualifier against Italy on 17 October, then he should give him a chance against Australia the week before.”
Do you agree with Collymore? – Does Watkins deserve to be awarded his eighth senior international cap later this month?
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