The Hornets cannot keep relying on the teams around them slipping up according to Will Hughes, who has stressed the importance of picking up a result against Norwich City tonight.
The midfielder admits the team has been fortunate to remain above the bottom three after earning just one point from four games since the restart and is keen to start pulling away from the pack.
“We can’t rely on other teams to mess up to retain our status in the league,” said the 25-year-old.
“We’ve been lucky in that sense that other teams haven’t taken advantage, and likewise they’ll feel lucky that we haven’t taken advantage.
“It’s a bit of a strange situation where nobody seems to be pulling away, but we’re very keen to get that going.
“We have to look at ourselves, we have to start putting it into action on the pitch and picking up victories, otherwise we’ll remain at the bottom.”
Norwich and Bournemouth have lost all their games since the restart, while Aston Villa have picked up two points and Watford one.
Hughes acknowledges how difficult the new circumstances have been for teams at the bottom, with no rousing crowd to level the playing field or turn the tide during the match.
“It’s a big disadvantage at home games for us because we rely on them to get us going as well when we’re not doing too well,” he said.
“In games like this they would have helped massively. But everyone’s in the same boat so we just have to deal with it.
“Normally a home advantage would be a massive thing going into the last few games, but we have to get on with it and deal with it as professionals and make the most of what we can do.”
Nigel Pearson has reiterated his faith in his players to turn results around, and Hughes echoes the Head Coach’s trust that there is enough quality and character in the team to survive.
“We definitely have the desire, the determination and the quality to get out of trouble,” said the midfielder.
“When you’re in a position like this at the bottom, players do feel pressure and it’s only normal. I’m sure other teams feel it as well, and it’s a tricky one to get rid of it for a game situation.
“You look at the attacking options we’ve got in Troy, Danny, Andre, we’ve got strength in depth, so we know we have the ability. We haven’t found our rhythm attacking wise yet but hopefully that will come and as soon as we get a couple, the goals will start to flow.”
