Hornets Head Coach Rob Edwards is looking forward to facing the challenge presented by Blackburn Rovers, as his side travels to Ewood Park for tomorrow night’s fixture under the lights (Tuesday September 13, 7.45pm KO).
Rovers are only one position below Watford in the Sky Bet Championship table, and have proved to be dangerous opponents so far this season.
Edwards is searching for a consistent team performance after a 1-1 draw with Rotherham United last time out, and he is excited to see the work on the training pitch come to fruition.
“We’re heading towards a quarter of the way through the season, and it’s happened very fast,” Edwards began.
“Every game is important and it’s worth three points. It’s vital that we build on the good performances within games, but we need to be consistent for the 90 minutes. That’s what I’m looking for and searching for now.
“I’m pushing the players towards that, and hopefully those good performances can be rewarded with points. Blackburn are a very good team and it will be a very tough game, as they all are in the Championship. All our games have been very tight so far, and I’m expecting this one to be no different.
“We are getting there with the group. Having the transfer window closed is helpful because we have a settled group and we can work. Everyone knows where they are at, and we can continue to work together. We can begin to find more rhythm as we progress.”
A key figure for the home side, Blackburn’s talisman Ben Brereton Díaz has started this season in fine form and is currently Rovers’ top goalscorer.
Edwards is well aware of the threat that he and his teammates can pose to the Hornets, but Watford will be hoping to cause Blackburn problems of their own.
“Ben is a young player that has continued to improve,” Edwards said. “He is a very talented player, and he has had a lot of recognition for what he has done on the international stage. He has had made a huge impact at Blackburn Rovers, and is someone who has had a huge amount of interest and rightly so.
“He has stayed at the football club, like we have kept one or two of ours, and I’m sure Blackburn will be very pleased with that. We have respect for everyone and we look at everyone in the team. We will have ways of trying to stop them, but we want to make sure we can imprint our game on them and have them worrying about our players.
“We have total respect for them and their players, not just Ben Brereton Díaz, they have others. It will be about what we can do on the night.”
On the availability of his squad ahead of the midweek fixture, Edwards is happy to report that many are working their way back to full fitness and there haven’t been any further injury concerns.
“We are pretty much where we were from the last match against Rotherham,” he explained. “We have Jeremy Ngakia who is in the mix and has been training with us. We have one or two who are a few weeks away – Imrân Louza and Tom Cleverley are two of those lads who aren’t far away.
“Ismaïla Sarr is fit again now and it will be good to have him back among us. It was only a minor problem that he had and it was going to be a week to 10 days. It was only a week in the end, so it’s great to have him back.
“We are in a good place and the squad is competitive. We are happy with where we are at going into Tuesday’s game.”
On Friday (September 9), Watford FC staff and players paid their tributes following the passing of HM Queen Elizabeth II. After a period of silence at the London Colney training ground, Edwards visited the Watford Peace Memorial to lay a wreath later in the day.
He added: “It was important for us as a football club to pay our respects. It wasn’t just me, it was on behalf of everyone at the football club. We also had a minute’s silence here with all of the players and all of the staff outside and I went to lay a wreath.
“It is an unprecedented time and a sad time. A lot of people wanted to pay their respects in their own way, and that was our own way of doing those things.”
