Ollie Watkins urges Aston Villa to realise FA Cup dream against ‘bogey team’

Ollie Watkins has urged Aston Villa to bounce back from Tuesday’s defeat at Manchester City by knocking out their “bogey team” Crystal Palace and progressing to the FA Cup final.

Villa lost 2-1 at the Etihad Stadium thanks to Matheus Nunes’s 94th-minute winner, leaving them seventh, two points behind Newcastle in the fifth and final place that secures Champions League qualification.

Villa face Palace at Wembley in Saturday’s Cup semi-final. In their three previous meetings this season with Oliver Glasner’s team, Villa were eliminated from the Carabao Cup in October, drew the following month’s league encounter 2-2, and lost 4-1 in February’s reverse fixture.

Watkins said: “Palace have been a bit of a bogey team for us but on our day we’re capable of beating anyone, and everyone’s looking forward to that. Just bring on the weekend, really.”

Villa’s 1996 League Cup triumph brought their last major honour. Watkins, who signed in 2020, said: “This is the furthest since I’ve been at the club we’ve got in the FA Cup. We’ve always gone out quite early and it’s disappointing. You want to win these competitions and it’s nice that we’re in the latter stages of it.

“I’ve been saying to the boys one thing I set my eyes on when I joined the club was winning a trophy. It’s been so long since the club has done that and that’s the main aim, so Saturday is massive.”

Watkins shrugged off being dropped for Marcus Rashford at City despite having scored in last weekend’s 4-1 win at Newcastle when starting. Rashford got Villa’s goal at City – a penalty – and was preferred for last week’s 3-2 Champions League win against Paris Saint-Germain.

Watkins said Unai Emery usually reveals the XI relatively late. “Sometimes the manager will tell us 30 minutes before we leave the hotel to head towards the stadium … everyone has to be prepared, really, and you never know what’s going to happen.”