Ollie Watkins: The World Cup dream in England is not over yet for the Aston Villa striker

Ollie Watkins knows his current form is not good enough to make Thomas Tuchel’s latest England squad.

The Aston Villa striker has been left out of the expanded 35-man squad for the Three Lions’ upcoming friendlies against Uruguay and Japan after scoring just one goal in his past nine Premier League matches.

It leaves question marks over whether 30-year-old Watkins’ hopes of going to his first World Cup hang in the balance.

“Everyone wants to play for their country, but I expected that because my form wasn’t that great,” Watkins said after Sunday’s comfortable 2-0 win over West Ham, Villa’s first win after a run of three Premier League defeats.

“I know what I can do, and when I wear an England shirt I always feel like I’ve done well.”

Against West Ham, Watkins showed Tuchel what he has been missing when he ended a six-game goal drought in the league.

He was a constant threat and was unlucky not to find the back of the net with his five shots, as he twice fired wide of the target.

But in contrast to last season’s tally of 17 goals and 14 assists, Watkins’ 10 goals and two assists in all competitions this season looks meager.

He knows he is running out of time to impress the England coach, and with him missing the national team’s final training camp before the World Cup, he also knows his only way back into Tuchel’s good books is to score for his club.

“The one thing you can always count on with Watkins is his drive and his willingness to keep running the channels and keep doing the right things for the team,” former Liverpool midfielder Danny Murphy said.

“This is a huge thing that Tuchel will be watching. I don’t think he’s completely out of it yet.”