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Aston Villa striker Ollie Watkins has withdrawn from the England squad after sustaining a blow to his knee in Thursday's 3-0 friendly win over Wales. The 29-year-old frontman will not be travelling with the Three Lions to Latvia for Tuesday's World Cup qualification match in Riga.
The development also casts doubt over Watkins' potential involvement in Sunday's Premier League trip to Spurs. Watkins picked up the issue when accidentally sliding into the post after he had netted England's second goal of the night.
He was then substituted and later hobbled through the mixed zone, telling the reporters that were present that he thought he'd be okay. However, England have now published a statement confirming Watkins has returned to Villa.
It read: "Ollie Watkins has been ruled out of England’s 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifier in Latvia. The Aston Villa striker has not recovered from the knock sustained against Wales at Wembley on Thursday evening and has returned to his club."
Watkins is set to be assessed ahead of the trip to north London. He has previously scored three goals in three separate visits to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and Spurs' chances of victory would certainly be bolstered by his absence.
It's been a challenging start to the campaign for both Watkins and Villa, however. While Unai Emery's side won four matches on the spin heading into the international break, Watkins has only found the back of the net once in 10 outings in all competitions.
He has started all seven of Villa's Premier League games and recently scored in the 3-1 win over Fulham.
Watkins knows Spurs boss Thomas Frank all too well having made 83 appearances under the Dane at Brentford.
The England international mustered 34 goals during that time to earn a transfer to Aston Villa in September 2020.
Spurs have won four of their opening seven top-flight matches and are currently just two points adrift of north London rivals Arsenal at the summit.
The games are now coming thick and fast for Frank's side as they also prepare for Champions League and EFL Cup fixtures.
After Villa, they travel to Monaco in the Champions League before facing their first trip to the Hill Dickinson Stadium to play much-improved Everton.
Spurs are then on the road again to face Newcastle in the Carabao Cup before three consecutive home fixtures against Chelsea, Copenhagen and Manchester United before the November international break.
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