Ollie Watkins told to block out social media 'noise' as Steven Gerrard backs Aston Villa striker to come good

Watkins is under the greatest scrutiny since joining Villa for £28million from Brentford in 2020, after a run of six matches without a goal. The 26-year-old scored 14 times in his debut Premier League campaign, during which he also earned an England call-up.

But he has found the net only five times this term and Gerrard held a one-to-one talk with the forward this week in a bid to help him get back on track.

“Recently there’s a bit of outside noise around Ollie but we’ll do the best thing for him in terms of giving him the care and support he needs,” said Gerrard.

“We’re very confident he’ll be back firing and the goals will come thick and fast pretty soon. He is a fantastic player and a big, big talent. It wasn’t so long ago people were saying he should be back in the England squad. He was scoring goals and looking a threat.

“At times as a player you have to reset yourself and keep working hard. You have to put the shutters down in terms of the outside noise because that isn’t important. You have to focus on what the staff and myself are asking him to do. I am confident Ollie will bounce back very quickly.”

Watkins was the subject of online criticism from a section of supporters after last weekend’s 1-0 defeat at Newcastle. But Gerrard believes the best way to deal with any flak on social media is to ignore it.

He explained: “You are not going to keep every person happy every single game. It’s normal for people to criticise, point fingers, to be fickle. If you’re a player and you go looking for that I’m sure you’ll find it. For me it’s important the players remain focused, they believe in what we’re doing and they focus on their individual performances.

“I don’t think you gain anything, and you’re not going to improve yourself or your performance if you go looking for outside noise.

“It’s out there. It’s out there for me, it’s out there for all the players and if you want to find it, you can find it. My advice to the players is to ignore what’s being said on the outside and focus on what you have to do on the inside.

“I’m not saying stop social media. But if you’re on social media and you’re looking for negative comments and you don’t feel good about them then you’ve probably got yourself to blame.”