Aston Villa hot-shot Ollie Watkins will be aiming for six of the best

The 27-year-old last weekend became the first since Paul Rideout, in 1985, to net in five straight games when he bagged the opener in Villa’s 2-0 win at Everton.

He will now get the chance to make it six in a row, matching a mark last achieved by Andy Gray in 1977, when Crystal Palace visit Villa Park on Saturday.

Watkins would need to score in the next three matches to equal the club’s all-time record, held for more than 97 years by Len Capewell, who scored in eight successive games early in the 1925-26 season.

Pongo Waring (1930-31) and Dai Astley (1935-36) both came close to emulating Capewell in the next decade but saw their streaks end at seven matches.

No Villa player has scored in more than six straight games since with Peter McParland (1959-60) and Brian Little (1974-75) both managing it in the Second Division, before Gray enjoyed the same run in the top flight.

Watkins is already the first Villa player to score in five straight league matches in the Premier League era, having netted against Southampton, Leicester, Manchester City and Arsenal before drilling home a penalty at Everton.

Several Villa strikers, including Dean Saunders, Dwight Yorke and Christian Benteke, had scored in four consecutive Premier League matches.

Dion Dublin did net in five straight top-flight games in 1998, though the first two of those were for Coventry, prior to a £5.75million switch to Villa. The seven goals he scored in his first three matches following the move across the West Midlands remains a Villa club record.

Watkins’ run has come following a difficult start to the season which saw him score just twice in his first 14 appearances. He has since netted seven times in 12 outings and is on course to reach double figures in the Premier League and finish Villa’s top scorer for the third straight season following his £28m move from Brentford.

“There have been a different variety of goals,” he said. “It isn’t like I am just standing in the box and getting a lot of tap-ins.

“These are different sorts of finishes. It is nice to show people I can score different goals.”