Slaven Bilic: Watford boss says Hornets must win remaining 18 Championship games to catch top two
- Published
Watford have won nine and drawn three of their 18 Championship games since Slaven Bilic took over from Rob Edwards in September
Watford boss Slaven Bilic says the Hornets may not be able to afford to drop another single point if they are to catch the Championship's top two.
Bilic's side stayed third after being held 1-1 at Vicarage Road by struggling Rotherham United on Saturday.
Watford are 13 points behind second-placed Sheffield United, with leaders Burnley a further five points ahead.
"They are pulling away but there are enough games," Bilic told BBC Three Counties Radio, with 18 matches to go.
"We have to continue to fight, to play and concentrate totally on our game.
"We have to try to win them all if possible because only then are we going to have a chance to catch them or to be in a good position at the end of the season."
The Hornets are without a dozen first-team players because of injury but Bilic admitted they were close to signing Benfica striker Henrique Araujo, 21, on loan for the rest of the campaign pending a medical.
Keinan Davis, Joao Pedro, Tom Cleverley, Dan Gosling, Imran Louza, Edo Kayembe and Tom Dele-Bashiru have all been sidelined in recent weeks.
To stock his bench, Bilic has been forced to turn to teenagers including 17-year-old forwards Tobi Ademeyo - who scored on his league debut in the win against Blackpool on 14 January - and Michael Adu-Poku.
"We can't rely on kids coming on and scoring goals for us week in, week out - they wouldn't be kids then," Bilic added.
"At the moment we are lacking so many good players. I don't like to moan about it but I said the same after the Blackpool game, after the Norwich game, games that we won.
"To put young Michael there, to put Tobi there again, compared to them [19-year-old] Yaser Asprilla looks like a senior player but he is still a boy."