Ollie Watkins is aiming high ahead of his fourth season as an Aston Villa player.
The striker returned his best goal tally in the Premier League last term, netting 15 times in 37 games – with 13 of those strikes arriving after Unai Emery was installed as head coach.
And Watkins is determined to keep pushing himself as he looks to pick up where he left off.
“I just want to better last season,” he said.
“It was probably my best end to a season. From when the manager came in, I picked up and collectively, as a team, we finished strongly.
“I’m always looking to improve and develop. This year will be better than last year.”
Watkins brought up his century of appearances for the club during last season and took his overall goal total for Villa to 43.
In addition to progressing individually, the forward will be doing his all to make sure the team are ready to hit the ground running when the league campaign begins.
He said: “We’ve gone straight back into it. There’s been a lot of running but we’ve been doing similar sessions to last season.
“It’s nice to be straight in with the balls and back into a normal routine.”
On the USA tour, he added: “We get to play a lot of other Premier League sides out there, so it will be good to see where we are.
“We need to build the team chemistry before going into the first game of the season.”
