It was a bittersweet evening for Peter Etebo as he returned to action against Wolverhampton Wanderers on Thursday (March 10), in a game which saw the Hornets fall to a 4-0 defeat away from home.
Etebo's previous Watford appearance came in late September against Newcastle United, with the 26-year-old having missed the following five months due to a quad injury.
The Nigerian midfielder was very disappointed with the Hornets’ performance at Molineux, but is ready to move on quickly in preparation for a trip to Southampton this weekend (March 13, 2pm KO).
“I’m short of words to be honest,” said Etebo. “I’m not happy with the result, but what’s happened has happened and it’s for us to look forward to the next game.
“I feel sorry for the travelling fans, they came a long way, but sometimes these things happen in football and we have to do our best to respond.”
Substituted on for the final 17 minutes in the West Midlands, Etebo described the emotions of returning to the pitch after such a long lay-off.
“I’m excited to be back, I must say I’m overwhelmed,” he said. “It’s been a long time, five months I’ve been out, so I need to make sure I do all the work well to make sure everything is back to normal.
“Even if I am back on the pitch we are still at the bottom of the table which is not a good result, so though I’m glad to be back I know there’s a lot of work for us to do.”
With such a short turnaround before Watford’s next game, Etebo spoke about the preparations for the weekend trip to the South Coast, where he will hope to accrue more playing minutes.
“When we get back to training tomorrow [Friday] the gaffer will have video clips, we will sit together and watch the game,” Etebo explained.
“It’s tough to take to be honest, but the most important thing is that we stay together. We need to come as a team and stay together in order to survive.”
