Head Coach Slaven Bilić believes Watford’s 1-1 draw at home to Blackburn Rovers was a sign of some good times to come before the end of the 2022/23 season, with a number of injury returnees and recent arrivals showing glimpses of their quality at Vicarage Road.
The Hornets went behind against the run of play midway through the first half, when Bradley Dack prodded home for Rovers after Joe Rankin-Costello’s initial effort, but Wesley Hoedt smashed in an equaliser 16 minutes from time to ensure the spoils were shared.
Bilic made three changes to his XI in the wake of last weekend’s 2-2 draw at Reading - with Hoedt, João Pedro and Ismaël Koné coming in - and with Tom Cleverley, Ken Sema and Imrân Louza also earning their first minutes of 2023 from the bench, the former Croatia boss stressed that things are only going to improve.
“We played well,” said Bilić, 54. “I think we did more than enough to win the game - we created four or five proper chances to do so - but our final touch and final decision-making was lacking.
“Their goal didn’t kill us, and it didn’t really change the pattern of the play. It obviously affects the game when you’re on top and then you suddenly concede, but I thought we did well. I was disappointed with how we finished the game, because we didn’t really create anything, but overall I think it was good.
“We gave everything and of course it is good to have players back available. They are not in top form yet, but that will come. For now we have to find the balance of using them in the correct way and building them back to their best, and we saw today how valuable a lot of them are to our team.”
João Pedro - who was handed the captain’s armband from the start - impressed throughout his 79 minutes on the pitch, while goalscorer Hoedt and his central defensive partner Ryan Porteous were also singled out for praise by Bilić.
He said: “João Pedro got some minutes last week at Reading, and today was another step in the right direction. It’s going to take a bit of time until he’s ready for 90 minutes, but today he showed the quality we’ve been missing.
“When he’s on the pitch it’s totally different, and he has a big impact on all the other players around him. [Ken] Sema as well, he made a big difference when he came on with his physicality and crossing, and you see what we’ve missed.
“Both of them [Hoedt and Porteous] are very impressive. They played like a proper partnership today in their first game together, and they already have a good understanding. They’re both good with and without the ball and are dominant, and Wesley topped it off with a goal which is great.”
Having recorded successive draws, Watford next travel to league leaders Burnley on Tuesday night (February 14, 8pm KO), ahead of similarly tough-looking matches at home to West Bromwich Albion (Monday February 20, 8pm KO) and away at Sheffield United (Saturday February 25, 3pm KO).
With Watford sitting sixth with 15 games of the campaign remaining, Bilić insisted that the upcoming run of fixtures won’t determine their fate, and is focused on attacking each game as they come, one-by-one.
He added: “We can’t look too far ahead - we have a plan and it’s game by game. In the end, it’s the same really - we want to win every game, and if we’re successful that will take us up the standings.
“We’ve got more players on the team sheet now, but they’re not in top form and that will come. We’ll continue doing what we’re doing and I’m sure we’ll get better. We’re determined, and we definitely have a chance of picking up plenty of good results in the coming weeks.”
