Aston Villa: John Duran scores brilliantly to send clear message to Unai Emery

Since Duran joined Villa in January 2023, he has only started twice alongside Watkins.

Although Emery suggested on Monday that he is prepared to play both of his strikers together, it is clear that his preference is one or the other.

This type of situation could easily cause friction between the two players, but Duran says he is happy to fill whatever role the team needs him to.

“We worked hard as a team and it’s my job to score. The main thing was to win and get three points away from home,” Duran told Amazon Prime after the match.

“I’m really happy to be here and I really enjoy competing with Ollie Watkins. When my turn comes I’ll step up and hopefully I can score and help the team.

“We are very happy with where we are in the standings right now, but we have to win the game at home (against Celtic) and we almost won, so we are happy with that.”

Duran turns 21 on Friday and he knows how he wants to celebrate.

“I’m definitely not going out to celebrate my birthday because my aim is to score on Saturday to celebrate,” he said.

In his post-match interview, Emery gave a little insight into why he keeps starting Watkins instead of Duran.

“Sometimes he (Duran) is very emotional and we have to try to maintain a balance with him,” Emery told Amazon Prime.

“He scored a great goal and he is working, we are trying to strengthen the team with a tactical approach. His potential is huge. Tactically he is improving and today he played brilliantly for 45 minutes “