Wednesday 31 January 2018 21:23, UK
Watford midfielder Ben Watson says their visit to Stoke City on Wednesday (kick-off 8pm) is their biggest game of the season so far.
Their trip to the bet365 Stadium will be the first Premier League clash of Javi Gracia's reign at Watford since replacing Marco Silva.
The Hornets currently sit in 10th place but have lost eight of their last 11 league games, which led to the departure of Silva. Gracia oversaw the FA Cup defeat at Southampton on Saturday, so will be looking for a response from his new charges.
"(The poor performance at Southampton) Is what you get when you are not winning games and struggling for form, but we have got to keep going and get out of this," Watson said.
"We can't rely on anyone, and Wednesday is the biggest game of the season. If you ask anyone in the Premier League, first and foremost it is about being a Premier League club next year.
"We have got to go to Stoke and impose ourselves and we have to make sure that we leave nothing on the pitch. Any of 10 teams could go down and we have to make sure we are not one of them.
"We are in this hole and we as players, as staff, and everyone involved, we have to get out of it."
Stoke manager Paul Lambert does not believe the final day of the transfer window comes as a distraction to the game, stating club director Tony Scholes will deal with any transfers.
The Potters have enjoyed a 10-day break since beating Huddersfield after being knocked out of the FA Cup in the third round by Coventry, and Lambert hopes his side can take advantage of the extra time off.
He said: "It's given me time to do that little bit more work with them on ideas that we think can help us, so it has been beneficial albeit we wouldn't have wanted to get knocked out of the Cup. But it sets us up for Wednesday.
"It'll be a tough game. It's a new manager, but if we can keep some momentum especially at home then we've got a great chance of winning. We're playing well and everything is really positive."
Lambert has virtually a full-strength squad to pick from with only Glen Johnson (knee) injured and unavailable for selection.
Gracia, on the other hand, has a hefty injury list to contend with ahead of his first league match in charge.
Will Hughes (hamstring), Miguel Britos (foot), Molla Wague (hamstring), Younes Kaboul (foot), Nathaniel Chalobah (knee), Isaac Success (knee), Craig Cathcart (knee) and Kiko Femenia (hamstring) are all out.
Furthermore, Heurelho Gomes (back), Troy Deeney (illness) and Tom Cleverley (hamstring) are all rated as doubtful.
Watford are really struggling at the moment. They sacked the manager and got Javi Gracia in quickly so they'll be hoping for a quick turnaround in fortunes. I think they're in real big trouble though. They're the team on a glass mountain with moccasin slippers on.
I expect Stoke to win this game comfortably to add to Watford's misery.
PAUL PREDICTS: 2-0
Eric Choupo Moting and Mame Biram Diouf share favouritism in the first goalscorer betting at 5/1 apiece, followed by Troy Deeney at 6/1.
The hosts are, however, considered four times more likely to face relegation at 9/4 to go down.
Wednesday night's Premier League clashes make up the midweek Super 6 line-up, with the £1million still to be won.
