William Troost-Ekong paid tribute to the returning Craig Cathcart who put in a remarkable performance at right-back in the momentous win over league leaders Norwich City.
Starting his first game since February 27 away at Bournemouth and playing out of position at right-back, Cathcart produced the sort of performance to rival the one the great Nigel Gibbs made for the club at St Andrew's in 1999.
The redoubtable Northern Irishman looked like he had been playing full-back all his life and he set the tone with a high press on Todd Cantwell inside five minutes. He got forward at the right moments, put over a couple of very good crosses, allowed Ismaïla Sarr the freedom to bomb forward with abandon while keeping the back door firmly shut. The 32-year-old was a big factor behind ensuring Norwich failed to score at home for the first time since January and in keeping a 21st clean sheet of the season for the Golden Boys.
“He was fantastic,” said Troost-Ekong. “It's been a difficult few months for him, but he's the kind of person who trains the same way every day and is a vocal person in the group. He doesn't do a lot of interviews, but in the dressing room he is really positive, helping everyone out. He's the kind of player who supports and never makes you feel a certain kind of way because he isn't playing. That's credit to him. He showed his professionalism and experience, and he made it look like he had played the whole season at right back. Kudos to Craig.”
Cathcart was one of four changes and the returning players – himself, match-winner Dan Gosling, Tom Cleverley and Adam Masina – really energised the team.
“We had so many players coming back who added to the team and the good thing about our squad is that anyone who steps in makes the team better,” said Troost-Ekong. “Dan made a difference today and everyone was really happy for him. He has waited for his chance and he is a player who has really helped us since arriving in January. He came in and did really well.”
The ability of the midfield to get up and down was a major factor in keeping Norwich at bay and ensuring this group sit in third, only one behind the class of 1996/97 in the club record books for number of league clean sheets in one season.
“It's been a team effort,” said Troost-Ekong, who has started 31 games this season. “Since the Head Coach came in, the main thing is we play further away from goal, stay high as much as we can and play in Norwich's half as much as we could. If you stay away from your own goal then it's harder for them to score. Then when they do get close to our goal we are organised. And if they get past that then Dan [Bachmann] has been outstanding. There are different levels to it, but everyone is chipping in and we are getting good pressure on the ball. Not many teams get one-on-one so that is credit to the whole team as everyone is following their man. Everyone is ready to give everything to the team and it's a really good time to be at Watford right now.”
Troost-Ekong loves it at Vicarage Road and the move was written in the stars given he had a property in the area and that his father-in-law is a Watford fan. He did, however, have to face the music after Saturday's derby defeat.
“The result hit me quite deep as it was my first derby and I had to discuss that when I got home,” he said. “When I got in the changing room [after the Norwich game], I got onto FaceTime and they [my family] were going crazy at home. There was also lots of shouting and happiness in the changing room for 10 minutes before we then started thinking about Saturday. It was a massive game [against] Norwich and it was good to get the win after absorbing a bit of pressure at the end.
“We knew what we had to do. We didn't start well at Luton and were on the back foot the whole game. Everyone was upset and we used that to motivate us. We knew they would play without any pressure [after being promoted on Saturday] so we got at them. We didn't want to be part of a showcase game. We knew from the first whistle we were here to get something. Everyone knew the importance of this game and these are the sort of games we want to play in next season. It was a massive win.”
