Aston Villa forward Ollie Watkins has claimed that he and his teammates must learn from their mistakes if they are to qualify for the Champions League.
On the back of losing 4-1 at Manchester City in midweek, Villa were under pressure to bounce back against Brentford on Saturday in order to move five points clear in the race for fourth position in the Premier League standings.
At 2-0 ahead after 46 minutes, the West Midlands outfit appeared well on course for three points, only for Brentford to score three times in nine minutes to lead 3-2 with just over 20 minutes remaining.
Watkins would ultimately net an equaliser against his former club, his second goal of the afternoon, yet it will definitely be perceived to be two points dropped by Unai Emery's side when they reflect on the game.
Villa have now collected just five points from as many games and will drop down to fifth if Tottenham Hotspur can defeat Nottingham Forest on Sunday evening.
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What did Watkins have to say?
In two separate interviews, Watkins could not avoid voicing his frustration, acknowledging that Villa have history for failing to convert two-goal leads into three points, citing the game with Manchester United over Christmas.
Speaking to Match Of The Day, Watkins said: "It's frustrating. We lacked that big team mentality where they kill games off which is really disappointing. I'm not belittling my team. I'm part of it. I feel we need to somehow figure out when we're 2-0 up how to just shut up shop.
"I felt when it went to 3-3 that we would go on and win. We had a lot of the ball and we were creating chances."
Watkins later described Villa's attitude heading into the second half of fixtures as "poor", questioning their "game intelligence".
In a later interview with Sky Sports, the attacker added: "Two-nil is always a dangerous scoreline. We came out in the second half and scored and then we seemed to relax as a team. I don't know if it's the scoreline or what but we always come out slow. I said to the boys at the start of the second half we need to start quick.
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"It's poor. It was too easy for them to get in and score. It's really disappointing because it could have been a really massive three points. We've been 2-0 up against Manchester United away and conceded silly goals. We have done it here today.
"We've got a point but it should have been three. These are the games we need to be winning. That's what the top team do. They finish it off, kill it off. They are smart. Maybe we just don't have that maturity yet or game intelligence."
What next for Villa?
Emery and his squad turn their attention to the Europa Conference League quarter-finals on Thursday night, where they will play Lille at Villa Park in the first leg.
In between their two fixtures with the French outfit is a showdown with Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium on April 14.
Darren Plant
