Watford and Wolves lock horns in fight for seventh

Watford could leap-frog Wolves and make a late charge for seventh place by beating Nuno Espirito Santos’ side on Saturday.

The Hornets came from behind to draw 1-1 with Southampton during the week, conceding the fastest-ever goal in Premier League history along the way and eventually scoring right at the death.

Shane Long’s early goal after just seven seconds put the visitors ahead at Vicarage Road. But Watford refused to surrender and give up with former Burnley striker Andre Gray scoring a shot high into the net as the clock hit 90 minutes to salvage a point.

Having scored ten goals beyond the 80th minute this season, Watford defender Adam Masina declared that his team-mates’ never-say-die attitude must continue to the end of the campaign.

“To concede so early was disappointing but things like that are a part of the game and they happen. We just had to hope that we could score by the end and thankfully we did it.” he said.

“We just need to remember to keep going [in every game]. We need to improve on our mistakes, for sure, but this is part of football. We need to work hard and try to avoid these situations.”

“We need to get the three points [on Saturday] to achieve our goal of seventh place, so the Wolves game is an important one for us.”

Wolves are currently enduring mixed fortunes on the road in the Premier League but extended their unbeaten home record to seven games with a 3-1 victory over Arsenal on Wednesday.

Having won just two of their previous eight away games in the League, Wolves midfielder Rúben Neves is confident that his side’s away fortunes will turn before the end of the season but they must produce a performance similar or better to that against the Gunners during the week.

Neves said the following:

“[It was] a very good game for us [against Arsenal],” he said. “I think we controlled all the game, three goals in the first half was very good for us.

“After that we just had control. Arsenal had more of the ball which is normal, they were losing 3-0 and looking for the goal, but I think we controlled it. They didn’t have too many chances and it’s really deserved for us.

“We have to look forward now, there’s three games to go and a lot of work to do and we know what we want. [Watford] will be a really good game. They have a great team and are fighting for the same thing, it’s one more game. We’ll play the same way to try and get the win.”

Team News:

Watford are without suspended captain Troy Deeney who will return to action next weekendwat after his three-match ban expires whilst Tom Cleverly, Jose Holebas and Sebastian Prodl have returned to training this week but they will be assessed beforehand.

Wolves head coach Nuno Espirito Santo has a fully-fit squad at his use with no major changes expected.