Jhon Duran is loving his battle with Ollie Watkins for a place in the Aston Villa side.

Duran was demoted back to the bench for Tuesday's Champions League clash with RB Leipzig but replaced Watkins at half-time and scored his 10th goal of the season six minutes later.

That helped Villa to a 3-2 win which effectively sees them guaranteed a last-16 play-off place and puts them in a strong position to qualify automatically.

Six of the Colombian's goals have come from the bench as he has played second fiddle to Watkins, but it is a situation he does not mind being in.

He told the club's official website: "I'm just happy to be here. I actually love the competition I have going with Ollie Watkins.

"When it's my turn, I will step up, and hopefully I can score and help the team. We worked hard as a team and, well, that's my job, to score.

"That's what I work hard to do, but the main thing is three points away from home, and that's what we got today.

"We're so happy to be where we are in the standings right now. We've got to win the (next) game and we're almost through, so we're delighted about that."

Villa go to Ligue 1 club Monaco after Christmas and then host Celtic the following week as the eight-game league phase comes to an end.