Valerian Ismael spoke to the media ahead of Watford’s midweek home game against Norwich City (Tuesday 28 November, 8pm KO) in the Sky Bet Championship.
The Hornets will be looking to get back to winning ways after losing last week’s game to Leicester City.
Read below the head coach’s comments covering a variety of topics, including his thoughts on the Canaries and team news from the game.
I think they’re a big team in the Championship, but this is the Championship and Everyone will face some difficult situations.
It shows how strong this league is, especially this season when Leicester, Southampton and Leeds were eliminated from the Premier League.
It’s reckless.
We have to focus on ourselves, prepare for the game and do everything we can to keep pushing.
[Francisco] Sierralta returns to the team – he already took part in training last week, but the match was too close.
Matty Pollock is also expected to return to the team after falling ill last weekend.
is the only player who will be out for an extended period due to injury and surgery.
Ben Hammer is ready.
He played 90 minutes again in a friendly against Rotherham during the international break, so we are now looking forward to his game and another chance.
Let’s tackle the games one by one.
This is the championship.
The beauty of this league is that anyone can beat anyone.
We know we are stronger at home, more confident in our game and more ready to compete.
We need to be more courageous with the ball and make sure something happens when we finally get the ball.
We know that playing 90 minutes against Leicester is not enough.
There are many positives to be taken from the game, including stability, organization, and cohesion.
And now all that matters is courage.
The players have the quality and ambition to play at a high level, so once they get a chance to play at a high level and show their quality, they just have to express themselves and enjoy the game.
If we can do that, we can be competitive.
