Steven Gerrard makes incredible Fernando Torres comment about Ollie Watkins

Villa head coach Steven Gerrard has likened goal ace Ollie Watkins to World Cup-winning striker and ex-Liverpool teammate Fernando Torres.

Gerrard, 41, waxed lyrical about Watkins - scorer of two in two - ahead of Villa's trip to Leeds United later this evening.

The boss was simply asked if Watkins was back to his best, and made an intriguing comparison to one-time Spanish scoring sensation Torres.

"He certainly looks (back to his best) to me," Gerrard said. "I picture Ollie Watkins at his best when he's really front-footed, aggressive with that bit between his teeth.

"He is a lovely player on the eye with the goals he scores and his technical ability. He reminds me in a lot of ways, in terms of his profile and how he goes about it, of a player I played with – Fernando Torres.

"He has that physical presence and build where out of possession he can be really effective for the team as well.

"I’m not comparing him to Torres the player, Ollie doesn’t deserve that, he deserves to be compared only to himself. But in terms of the build and the style of how he used to do for the team in terms of being selfless, a lot of hard work, really honest players.

"As a teammate and manager that’s exactly what you want to see and Watkins, when he’s at his best, nails both sides of the game. In the last two games we’ve seen that."

On picking Watkins up after his seven-game goal drought, Gerrard added: "It was a case of refocusing Ollie.

"I took him out of the team to take him out of the firing line and reset himself and from that moment he seems to have got his aggression back in training, that glint back in his eye and that’s where we need Watkins.

"We need him to be really full of confidence and belief because when he’s in that groove