Aston Villa boss Steven Gerrard: Ollie Watkins' style reminds me of Fernando Torres

Watkins has scored in each of the last two games having last month been dropped for the first time in his Villa career.

Gerrard believes the England international is getting back toward his best and compared his importance to Villa’s team to that of former Liverpool team-mate Torres.

While making clear he was not making a direct comparison between Watkins and the Spaniard, who while at Anfield was regarded as one of the best strikers in the world, he sees similarities in the way they approach the game.

He said: “He reminds me (of Fernando) in a lot of ways, in terms of his profile and how he goes about it.

“He has that physical presence and build where, out of possession, he can be really effective for the team as well.

“I’m not comparing him to Torres the player. Ollie doesn’t deserve that. He deserves to be compared only to himself.

“But in terms of the build and the style of how he used to do for the team in terms of being selfless, a lot of hard work. They are really honest players. As a team-mate and manager that’s exactly what you want to see and Ollie Watkins, when he’s at his best, nails both sides of the game. In the last two games we’ve seen that.”

Watkins, Villa’s top scorer with seven Premier League goals, had gone more than two months without finding the net before scoring in the 2-0 win at Brighton. He had previously been taken out of the starting XI for the 1-0 defeat to Watford.

Gerrard said: “It was a case of refocusing Ollie. I took him out of the team to take him out of the firing line and reset himself.

“From that moment he seems to have got his aggression back in training, that glint back in his eye and that’s where we need him. We need him to be really full of confidence and belief because when he’s in that groove he’s a real big asset for this team.”

With Ezri Konsa and Lucas Digne both back available after missing Saturday’s 4-0 win over Southampton with Covid, Gerrard has selection dilemmas at both ends of the pitch for Thursday’s fixture at Leeds.

Up front, he must decide whether or not to stick with the burgeoning partnership between Watkins and Danny Ings, after both netted against the Saints. It was the first time they had scored in the same match since Ings’ £25million move from Southampton last summer.

Gerrard said: “I don’t want to have one formation that isn’t adaptable, and it’s important players are in form. That was part of the chat with Ollie and Danny – let’s start building this relationship. We’ll give you the opportunity, we need to keep working on it and it’s not going to happen overnight, but you two are the key to it.

“You have got to deliver, you have to believe in it, and want to make it work yourselves. The last couple of weeks they certainly have.”