Watford

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Boss Tom Cleverley said he had to get angry during the half-time break of Watford's scoreless draw with bottom-of-the-table Plymouth Argyle.

"We wasted 45 minutes against a team that we're good enough to beat," Cleverley told BBC Three Counties Radio.

"We didn't play with enough tempo, enough desperation to score, enough penetration and there were too many unforced errors.

"There has to be a determination to break down that back line and I didn't see that. It's not just going to happen, you have to make it happen.

"The second half was how we should play. It was a more entertaining style, more direct, no mistakes. It's a bit of a head scratch how the ball's not found its way into the net, but that's the way it's been going for us.

"I've a lot of admiration for our second-half performance - how the players reacted to a bit of a rocket at half-time.

"There have only been two or three rockets this season. I feel the players are mentally strong enough to take them, otherwise I wouldn't do it.

"It probably wasn't my character when I was a player but I have developed it. It's a stressful job."

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Watford boss Tom Cleverley says goalkeeper Daniel Bachmann will have to "be patient" after returning to fitness following an ankle ligament injury.

The Austrian was first-choice for Watford, making 22 appearances this season before suffering the injury near the end of their 2-1 defeat by Sheffield United on 4 January.

It prompted the Hornets to sign Norway's Egil Selvik from Udinese at the end of the transfer window and he has made a good impression with four clean sheets in eight games so far.

"Selvik's been fantastic since he came to the club, hand in hand with our defensive record improving a lot with James Abankwah and the change to a back four," Cleverley told BBC Three Counties Radio.

"I'm really pleased with what Selvik's done and the other two, Bachmann and (Jonathan) Bond, will have to be patient."

Watford are five points outside the play-off places going into Saturday's lunchtime kick-off home game against Plymouth Argyle, with Abankwah suspended following his red card in the 1-0 defeat at Oxford United.

Cleverley is pleased there are no fitness issues affecting those players who have been away on international duty.

"We've had eight or nine away and it's unusual really because normally we have seven or eight playing all the games and all the minutes for their countries, but that wasn't the case this time," he said.

"Physically, it wasn't as demanding for the guys - there was a lot of long travels but they've all come back in good spirits, so I can uncross my fingers now."

Watford return to Championship action at home to Plymouth on Saturday (12:30 GMT) with a five point gap separating them from the play-off places.

Plymouth are six points adrift of safety so there is plenty at stake at Vicarage Road.

• Watford are unbeaten across their past five league games against Plymouth Argyle (W2 D3), keeping three clean sheets during that time.

• Plymouth Argyle have lost just one of their past five away league games against Watford (W2 D2), conceding just three goals across those visits to Vicarage Road.

• After losing each of their five home league games between late December and early February, Watford have now won two of their past three at Vicarage Road, while keeping a clean sheet in both wins.

• Plymouth won their last away league game 2-1 against Portsmouth, and will be looking to win successive away matches in England's second tier for the first time since April 2010.

• Plymouth have conceded 77 goals this season, the most of any side in the Championship. Only three times previously have the Pilgrims conceded more goals after 38 games of a Football League campaign (86 in 1946-47 & 1959-60 and 79 in 1954-55).

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Midfielder Kwadwo Baah is back fit and ready to play a "significant part" for Watford in their Championship match with Plymouth on Saturday according to boss Tom Cleverley.

Baah has not featured since being forced off 15 minutes into their 2-1 home defeat by Preston on 21 January because of a thigh injury.

"When someone has had two months, or two-and-a-half months out, I have to be careful that I don't go bang," Cleverley told his pre-match press conference., external

"He is ready to play a significant part on Saturday which is a huge boost to us all. Kwadwo is someone that turns a lot of our control and possession into goalscoring opportunities."

The 22-year-old joined Watford from Rochdale in 2021 and has scored four goals in 25 Championship appearances this season.

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Watford forward Giorgi Chakvetadze was among the scorers for Georgia as they retained their place in Uefa Nations League B with victory over Armenia.

Georgia ran out 6-1 winners in Sunday's second leg in Tbilisi to take the tie 9-1 on aggregate.

Chakvetadza scored the home side's third goal as they raced to a 5-0 lead by half time.

The midfielder has now scored 10 goals for his national side and will return to Championship action with Watford on Saturday when they continue their challenge for a play-off place at home to Plymouth Argyle.

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Watford forward Rocco Vata made his international debut as the Republic of Ireland came from behind to beat Bulgaria 2-1 in the first leg of their Uefa Nations League play-off.

The 19-year-old appeared as a 79th-minute substitute in Plovdiv, replacing Jason Knight, and was shown a yellow card within minutes of stepping on the pitch.

Vata joined Watford from Celtic in July and has scored three Championship goals in 25 appearances, 17 of them as a substitute.

The Republic of Ireland need to avoid defeat by Bulgaria in the second leg in Dublin on Sunday to retain their place in Nations League B.

Geoff Doyle
BBC 3CR sports editor

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Watford will probably need to win six of their last eight games to make the Championship play-offs. That task seems unlikely so they may have to settle for a top 10 finish - the lack of squad depth is likely to cost them.

Watford have as strong an 11 as most in the Championship and some top players in the form of Giorgi Chakvetadze, Kwadwo Baah, Imran Louza and James Abankwah but dig down a bit and the quality is not quite there.

It's most apparent in the striker department. There aren't many number nines who are going to finish the season with over 15 goals in the league. The traditional number nine position seems to be getting more difficult to master than ever before and Watford have suffered more than most up top recently.

Vakoun Bayo has 10 for the season but four of those came in one match and he hasn't scored since mid-January. When he returned from suspension last month 19-year-old Mamadou Doumbia was chosen ahead of him.

Doumbia is a raw and exciting talent and could be the answer to Watford's nine problem but even he failed to score in the six matches he started although he did win penalties and provide assists.

Watford have started their last two matches without a recognised striker with Bayo on the bench. With several other key players missing the thin squad hasn't got Watford as close to the top six positions as they would have liked.

The injury to Baah has had the greatest impact. Watford don't possess any other player with the raw pace and ability to go past players like him in the final third.

If it's not to be this season Tom Cleverley can still hold his head high. There were relegation predictions at the beginning of the season and the Watford boss had to endure a turbulent period in January where it looked like he'd been replaced, so to get them where he has has been a fine effort.

Watford aren't far off being a credible promotion-chasing side. With three or four quality additions you would fancy their chances next season but that's as long as they keep their own four or five top performers.

With Premier League parachute payments a distant thing of the past that seems unlikely with the Hornets owner, once again, likely to want to balance the books.

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Watford boss Tom Cleverley says his side are playing better than results suggest after a 1-0 defeat at Oxford United left them five points behind the Championship play-off spots.

Cleverley, who became the first Hornets boss since 2019 to reach a year in charge this week, told BBC Three Counties Radio: "I'm getting a little bit sick of disappointment, to be honest, when I don't feel my team are playing as poorly as the results maybe show.

"Why are we not winning the games we're in full control of? Millwall, Oxford, Stoke.

"It's a conundrum I need to solve on how we turn all this control and good play into wins because no-one wants to see a team that are playing great football but not winning matches, especially at this stage of the season.

"It wasn't a pitch where you can play the football we normally do but we saw out the first 20 minutes, lively wind affecting the play, then I thought we were in absolute control.

"If I can level any criticism at the lads today, we weren't clinical enough - 16 shots and none on target in the second half and that's why ultimately we've not won the game."

Oxford United have failed to win any of their past nine league games as they prepare to face Watford on Saturday (15:00 GMT).

Watford have won three of their past five Championship matches, leaving them four points short of the play-off places.

• Oxford have won just two of the past 27 games between the two sides in all competitions (D12 L13) and are winless in their last seven against the Hornets (D2 L5).

• Watford are unbeaten in their past 15 away games in all competitions against Oxford (W5 D10) - this is their first visit to the U's since a 1-1 League Cup draw in September 2020.

• Oxford have lost their past two home league games, they haven't lost more consecutively since a five-game losing run in February and March 2023.

• Watford have kept a clean sheet in their last two away league matches; the Hornets have not kept three clean sheets in a row since January and February 2021.

• Oxford boss Gary Rowett has won his past two league meetings with Watford, beating them 3-0 at home and 2-0 away in 2022-23 when he was in charge at Millwall.

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Watford boss Tom Cleverley says his side need to improve their game management as they prepare for "nine finals" to reach the Championship play-offs.

The Hornets are four points behind the top six after a 1-0 win over Swansea City at Vicarage Road on Wednesday night.

Moussa Sissoko's emphatic finish after Tom Ince pounced on Goncalo Franco's loose pass gave Watford victory, but Cleverley was critical of a second-half performance in which they almost gave up the lead.

"I don't think it's sustainable to be honest, how we're managing the games," he told BBC Three Counties Radio.

"I'm quite angry with how we managed the game - the application from pretty much everyone is to the maximum of what it needs to be and I just think we can manage the game better.

"We can't keep putting these games to chance because again the first-half performance was fantastic and the second-half performance, we looked like a team that's tired and making poor decisions.

"We need to address it as soon as possible because the first-half performances are too good to go unrewarded.

"We have to demand more from ourselves because to reach our goals then I am not sure if the second half performance would help us do that."

On whether Watford can still reach the play-offs this season, Cleverley added: "We just need one big push now on Saturday [at Oxford United] to get to the international break in a good position and it's going to take all of our effort.

"Nine finals. We'll tick them off one by one."

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Watford striker Mamadou Doumbia has been ruled out for a "few weeks" after suffering a hamstring injury in Saturday's defeat at home to Millwall.

Ahead of the Hornets' midweek clash with Swansea City, head coach Tom Cleverley confirmed he will be without the 19-year-old until after the international break.

"It's disappointing for the player," Cleverley told BBC Three Counties Radio.

"It'll be a few weeks so we'll miss Mamadou for the next couple of games certainly and we'll assess more in the international break."

Doumbia was clearly distraught when he went off in the 56th minute of Saturday's 2-1 loss.

"He's been so patient, he's worked so hard and the shirt was his for the time being," added Cleverley.

"When you do get a slight niggle, you give up the shirt up to someone else. There was probably a lot of things going through Mamadou's head, but he's a great professional and I'm sure he'll come back stronger."

Cleverley also confirmed club captain Daniel Bachmann, Pierre Dwomoh and Kwadwo Baah were between seven and 10 days from returning to first-team training.

Watford's defeat by Millwall on Saturday ended a three-match unbeaten run and they are six points off the play-off places as they prepare to host Swansea City on Wednesday (19:45 GMT).

The Swans are on their own three-game streak without defeat which has included wins over Blackburn and Middlesbrough.

• Watford have won just two of their past eight league games against Swansea City (D1 L5), scoring more than one goal in just one of those matches.

• Swansea City have lost just one of their past four away league games against Watford (D1 L2), a 2-0 defeat in May 2021.

• Watford are winless in their past four midweek league games (Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday), losing three of them (D1).

• Swansea have kept a clean sheet in two of their past three away league games (W1 D1 L1), as many as in their previous 22 league matches on the road (W6 D5 L11).

• Swansea are winless in their past four midweek (Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday) league games (D1 L3), this after winning four in a row immediately beforehand.

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Watford boss Tom Cleverley said his team are going to have to "dig deep" to reach the Championship play-offs with 10 games left to play.

Saturday's 2-1 home defeat by Millwall kept The Hornets 11th in the table, six points adrift of West Bromwich Albion in sixth, ahead of Wednesday's game against Swansea City at Vicarage Road.

"Me and the lads are going to have to dig very deep, to look at what went wrong and to remotivate ourselves," he told BBC Three Counties Radio.

"There's six points to play for this week, starting with Wednesday night, and we have to show a reaction - and dig probably deeper than we have done all season to make sure we still achieve our goals."

The Hornets lost 19-year-old striker Mamadou Doumbia to what appeared to be a hamstring injury against Millwall, enabling substitute Vakoun Bayo to come on for his 100th appearance in a Watford shirt.

Cleverley was unhappy with his side's "flat" second-half performance and added: "If you're not at the races technically, you still need intensity, and second half there was a big drop off from too many. At this level, you get punished if you are down 10-15%."

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Watford boss Tom Cleverley revealed up to half a dozen players are fasting for Ramadan after his side faded following a bright start in a 2-1 home defeat by Millwall.

The Hornets dominated the opening half with crisp passing and good movement and went ahead through Mattie Pollock's header from a corner.

But the second half saw the visitors hit back with two goals as Watford's play-off aspirations suffered a setback.

Asked about players fasting, Cleverley told BBC Three Counties Radio: "I think we're the most-affected squad in the league when it comes down to that.

"We work really hard with our nutritionists to make sure they're in the best condition they possibly can be.

"It's something we'll have to manage through this period. Five or six of our players today (were fasting). Did it have an impact? I don't know."

He added: "On the balance of the game, I don't think we deserved to lose it. But we have to improve on that second half. First half, we were good value for our lead but we just couldn't replicate that performance. We looked a tired outfit in the second half."

Watford have an extra day's rest before their next game, at home to Swansea City on Wednesday evening.

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Norway goalkeeper Egil Selvik has bounced back well from a tough start at Vicarage Road since joining Watford in the January transfer window.

The 28-year-old has achieved three successive clean sheets after conceding six goals - four of them against leaders Leeds United - in his first two games for the Hornets.

So what are the key elements of the goalkeeping role, in his opinion?

"You have to have some personality and you also have to use your aura to contribute on closing the box and also directing players," he told BBC Three Counties Radio.

"It's like you're working on the (white) board, you're saying where you expect people to be, and if you can give them some attitude and positive feedback, that will always help."

Selvik believes staying calm also helps the defenders in front of him.

He added: "Last game I didn't have too much to do but it's the thing for me to stay alert, keep talking and giving information - you want to do this all game but suddenly you're in action late in the game and you have to be prepared and do what I can do."

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For a club used to regularly hiring and firing head coaches, it is perhaps not surprising that Watford did not reveal the length of Tom Cleverley's deal when he was confirmed as boss in April 2024.

However, in his programme notes, external for Saturday's home game against Millwall, chief executive Scott Duxbury confirmed that the former Manchester United and Everton midfielder had signed a contract until 2027.

"When Tom signed his three-year contract back in April 2024 to become head coach, it was clear then he had a passion for developing players to give them the chance to fulfil their potential.

"Perhaps this is deep-rooted in the upbringing he had as a youth product of one of the world's biggest football clubs.

"And this will continue to be very important to us as a club which strives to ensure academy graduates have a clear pathway to first-team football."

Watford are 10th in the Championship and striving to reach the play-offs for the first time since being relegated from the Premier League in 2022.

Duxbury added: "We can look forward with relish to the final run of Championship games, knowing we have a group of players totally behind their head coach.

"And who says this current season will definitely end on May 3? The professionalism inside the club means everyone is preparing for all possible outcomes.

"Work continues with eyes firmly fixed on closing the small gap to sixth place and building on a belief that there's every reason to think we can be in the mix towards the end of April and beyond."

Will Cleverley still be in place at the end of the 2026-27 season? Only time will tell.

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Watford boss Tom Cleverley expects Belgian midfielder Pierre Dwomoh to return to training next week after almost two months on the sidelines.

The 20-year-old has not played since suffering a thigh injury during the 4-1 FA Cup defeat by Premier League side Fulham on 9 January.

Goalkeeper Daniel Bachmann is two weeks away from a return to training, having damaged ankle ligaments against Sheffield United, also in January.

Cleverley has put a similar timescale on forward Kwadwo Baah and hopes all three will be available for selection following the international break.

Meanwhile, US full-back Caleb Wiley is now fully match fit after joining the Hornets during the January transfer window.

"He looks a very promising player," Cleverley told the club website.

"He needs to learn some of the arts you will need in the Championship, and he will. He is a bright lad, and willing to learn."

Watford are 10th in the Championship, three points outside the play-off places, ahead of Saturday's home game against Millwall.