Ollie Watkins slams Unai Emery over Marcus Rashford decision in shocking interview following Newcastle win

Ollie Watkins has hit out at Aston Villa manager Unai Emery over his decision to play Marcus Rashford in the Champions League.

On Saturday evening, Aston Villa secured a season-defining win as they beat Newcastle United 4-1 at Villa Park, leaving them level on points with Nottingham Forest who occupy the fifth Champions League spot.

Ahead of the game, some fans were shocked to see striker Watkins included in the lineup after he was dropped for teammate Rashford for the Champions League clashes with Paris Saint-Germain.

But the Englishman was quick to silence his doubters, as he opened the scoring just a minute into the match, before going off on his manager in his post-match interview.

Despite a hard-fought second leg at Villa Park, the Birmingham club were knocked out of the Champions League in the quarter-finals by PSG, losing the 5-4 on aggregate.

Watkins was named on the bench for both matches, getting just 33 minutes in total to make an impact across the two games, and he’s not happy about it.

Speaking after the massive win over Newcastle, Watkins told Sky Sports: “Champions League, we’ve put in a lot of hard graft in the last few years to get to that position.

“I played 20 minutes against PSG in both games, so I’m not going to lie – I was fuming I wasn’t playing.

“I let him (Emery) know that. He’s the manager at the end of the day. I respect his decision. But I’m not one of the players happy to sit on the bench.”