Valérien Ismaël spoke to the media ahead of Watford’s midweek fixture at home to Norwich City in the Sky Bet Championship (Tuesday November 28, 8pm KO), with the Hornets looking to bounce back to winning ways following defeat at Leicester City last time out.
Covering a range of topics, including his thoughts on the Canaries and team news for the game, read what the Head Coach had to say below…
I think they are a big team in the Championship, but this is the Championship and everyone will face some difficult situations.
It [their league position] just shows how strong this league is, and especially this season with Leicester, Southampton and Leeds dropping in from the Premier League.
It is ruthless. We need to focus on ourselves, prepare for the game and do what we have to do to keep pushing.
[Francisco] Sierralta will be back in the squad – he was already in training last week but it was too close to the game. Mattie Pollock will be back in the squad as well, as he was sick last weekend. The only player who will be out for a long period of time is Jeremy Ngakia, due to his injury and surgery.
Ben Hamer is ready to go. He played against Rotherham and towards the international break we had a friendly game and he played 90 minutes again, so now we are looking forward to his game and his chance again.
We will take on the games one by one. This is the Championship, it is the beauty of this league that anyone can beat anyone.
We know that when we are at home we are stronger, we have more certainty in our game, more confidence, and we are more ready to compete.
We have to be braver with the ball and make sure when we’re in possession that we make something happen in the end.
We’re aware that it was not enough just to compete against Leicester for 90 minutes.
We can take a lot of positives from the game – the stability, organisation, togetherness – and now it is all about the bravery.
The players have the quality and ambition to play at a high level, and when you get the chance to play at a high level and show your quality you just need to express yourself and enjoy the game.
If we are able to do that then we will be able to compete.
I knew him at Crystal Palace in 1998 – after the Premier League season we dropped into the Championship.
I was injured so when I came back from my injury, it was the summer and the transition period so I got to know him as a manager and we had talks in his office about my future.
He was an experienced coach with big knowledge.
It was a short period of time but I learnt a lot. For me, it was a big moment – being a young player and working with such an experienced manager.
He was a big personality, so it is a sad moment for everyone, his family, and English football.
Domestic and overseas supporters can access live coverage of Watford v Norwich City, via the Hornets’ Hive Live streaming service.