'Desire to improve' key to Ollie Watkins' hot streak says Aston Villa boss Unai Emery

The striker netted his side's opener in Saturday's 2-0 victory at Chelsea for a 10th goal of the season and has looked rejuvenated since Emery replaced Steven Gerrard in October.

Watkins has been in the club goalscoring records of late and his neat lob in west London, a seventh goal in nine games, was the first time a Villa player has scored in five successive away Premier League fixtures.

Head coach Emery believes the secret is the striker's desire in training. He said: "The first thing is his commitment to practice every day, trying to improve.

"We're trying to help him to use his characteristics and his skill in our shape. He is very demanding every day to try to practice. We think he can improve.

"As a striker, it's very difficult to be clinical with every chance they have. He has to be very demanding, following the same way when he is scoring, when he's not scoring, whether he's being clinical or not being clinical. That is his mentality."

Villa climbed to ninth as John McGinn's fine second earned a deserved and memorable victory in the capital.

Emery's troops head to struggling and now managerless Leicester tomorrow after the Foxes parted ways with Brendan Rodgers yesterday.

Rodgers enjoyed four years in charge at the King Power Stadium but left after City dropped into the bottom three following a last-gasp defeat at Roy Hodgson's Crystal Palace on Saturday.