Ollie Watkins hits back at Troy Deeney on Instagram, reveling in his stunning goal against Arsenal – after the former Birmingham striker claimed he was a ‘winger trying to be a striker’

Ollie Watkins has hit back at Troy Deeney on Instagram after the former Birmingham City striker claimed the Aston Villa star was ‘a winger trying to be a striker’.

It came after Watkins scored his 19th Premier League goal of the season – 26th in all competitions – to help Unai Emery’s side tighten their grip on fourth place with a 2-0 win against Arsenal at the Emirates.

The 28-year-old has been in red-hot form this season, climbing up the scoring charts to become Villa’s top scorer and equal Christian Benteke’s record to become the club’s top scorer in the Premier League.

There has been much debate about which of Watkins, Dominic Solanke or Ivan Toney should be selected for this summer’s EC. And Deeney claimed Gareth Southgate should give the nod to the Brentford forward over the Villa striker.

“With Ollie it’s going to sound negative but I promise you it’s not, he’s a winger trying to be a striker,” he told talkSPORT last week.

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‘It’s just who he is. He’s very good as a striker, but when Ivan stepped up and took that penalty (against Belgium), did you think he was going to miss? I did not do it.

‘When Ollie runs through one-on-ones in many games this season, I’m still not convinced he’s going to score.

– I think he will score eventually if you give him three or four shots in a game. Ivan just has that borderline arrogance about him that makes me go, ‘Okay, stick Ivan in there”.

But it seems Watkins was not quick to forget Deeney’s comments and after sensationally flicking the ball over David Raya to score a sublime goal against Arsenal, he hit back at the former Birmingham City striker.

He posted a picture of himself thrashing the crowd on his Instagram story after scoring his goal with the caption Instagram: ‘Not bad for a winger trying to be a striker.’

One fan reposted the image on Twitter, writing: ‘Ollie woke up and chose violence.’

While Deeney was particularly scathing of Watkins’ performances this season, the Villa forward’s team-mate Emiliano Martinez praised the European Championship hopeful after the game, claiming he should be up for player of the season.

“He should be,” he said when asked if Watkins is in the race for the Golden Boot award – with the Villa forward in second place, just one goal behind Erling Haaland.

“I think Ollie should win player of the season,” Martinez added.

“When you play for a ‘big six’ team you get more credit, but Ollie has scored 19 goals with the chances he has.”