Aston Villa vs. Chelsea: Ollie Watkins, Tammy Abraham importance talked up ahead of Blues showdown

Aston Villa head coach Unai Emery has reiterated that he is relying on both Ollie Watkins and Tammy Abraham to fire the club into next season's Champions League.

Villa square off against Chelsea in a potentially-pivotal showdown on Wednesday night, with the West Midlands outfit currently holding a six-point advantage over the Blues in the Premier League table.

Both teams head into the contest at Villa Park on the back of a defeat, Villa losing to bottom club Wolverhampton Wanderers at Molineux on Friday night.

With Ollie Watkins drawing a blank in that contest, there is a debate to be had over who will start against Chelsea.

Nevertheless, speaking at a press conference on Tuesday, Emery emphasised the importance of having two centre-forwards challenging for a solitary spot in the team.

Villa "need both strikers"

Emery acknowledged that he has always had competition for Watkins in his squad, hinting that he does not intend to be overly-reliant on one of the top performing strikers in the club's history.

The Spaniard said: "Always, we had here another competitive striker. Danny Ings, John Duran, (Marcus) Rashford, (Donyell) Malen, and now, it’s Tammy Abraham.

“We need both strikers, and we need both strikers playing in their best and feeling comfortable with our structure.

“When we are not scoring goals, it’s not only the responsibility for the strikers, it’s for the team, it’s my responsibility, how I can improve things, to fill them, the strikers or the wingers, with the possibilities to score goals.

“This is my concern, and this is my responsibility. It’s not only for the strikers – how we are playing, how we are dominating, how we are getting (in) the opponent’s box with good positions, and good balls crossing, with the last assist, the last passes doing well, to try to get our strikers or our wingers or our midfielders, close to scoring.”

Will Watkins or Abraham get nod against Chelsea?

With Villa having a five-day break ahead of this contest and another eight-day wait for the following match, Emery will not feel forced to rotate.

However, there is no argument that Watkins has played a lot of football since the turn of the year, and the 30-year-old has already reached 28 starts and 10 substitute outings across all competitions for the season.

From Abraham's perspective, the former Chelsea forward has generally impressed since his arrival during the winter transfer window.

He has also netted in his last two outings at Villa Park, against Newcastle United and Leeds United respectively.

While Watkins is the marginal favourite to start on Wednesday, Abraham has justified claims to expect a recall.