Since joining Villa in January 2023, Duran has only started alongside Watkins twice.
Although Emery hinted on Monday that he would be willing to use both of his strikers together, it is clear he has a preference for one or the other.
Such a situation could easily cause tension between the two players, but Duran says he is happy to play whatever role the team needs him to play.
“We have worked hard as a team and it is my job to score. The main thing was the win and the three points away,” Duran told Amazon Prime after the game.
“I'm just happy to be here and I love competing with Ollie Watkins. When it’s my turn, I’ll step up and hopefully score and help the team.”
“We are so happy that we are now in the table, but we have to win the home game.” [against Celtic] and we’re almost done, so we’re happy about that.”
Duran turns 21 on Friday and knows exactly how he wants to celebrate.
“I'm definitely not going out to celebrate my birthday because my goal is to score on Saturday to celebrate,” he added.
In his post-match interview, Emery gave a little insight into why he keeps starting Watkins instead of Duran.
“Sometimes him [Duran] is very passionate and we have to try to stay balanced with him,” Emery told Amazon Prime.
“He scored a great goal and is working. We try to make the team strong with a tactical approach. His potential is enormous. He is improving tactically and today he played a fantastic 45 minutes.”
