After a brilliant season in-front of goal for Aston Villa last season, one that saw Watkins register 24 goals and 13 assists in all competitions, the former Brentford man forced himself into Gareth Southgate’s Euro 2024 squad – although he has found game time very limited whilst in Germany. The 28-year-old’s goals helped to fire Villa into the Champions League, however, he has recently revealed that he gets most nervous about playing at St James’ Park.
Villa were hammered 5-1 on the opening day of the season at St James’ Park last year and suffered a 4-0 defeat to the Magpies a season previous on Tyneside. Watkins played the full 90 minutes on both of those occasions and whilst he did register an assist for Moussa Diaby’s strike back in August, he has described his performances on Tyneside as ‘stinkers’ and revealed his hope that Newcastle United do to extend the capacity of St James’ Park ahead of potential future visits.
Speaking on England’s YouTube channel about which ground he gets most nervous ahead of playing at, Watkins responded: “Newcastle, St James’ Park.
“I’ve had a stinker there every year, I think! You just look up at that one stand and it keeps going and going. I’ve heard they’re making another like that and I’m like ‘no, don’t’. Please don’t!”
Following extraordinary demand for tickets, the Magpies are exploring ways of increasing the capacity of St James’ Park but will have to be creative in finding solutions because of building regulations around the stadium.
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