Watford's rescue mission
Watford face a five game rescue mission to secure their Championship status, with victory continuing to elude them in their latest games.
The Hornets battled to a 1-1 draw against promotion-chasing West Brom on Monday afternoon, and were only denied victory by an injury time equaliser from the visitors.
Malky Mackay's men were hindered by a 79th minute red card for Jon Harley and multiple injuries, including a concerning incident for starlet Tom Cleverley.
The Man Utd loanee was stretchered off during the second half, and most worryingly, was done so with a leg splint and an oxygen mask.
All misfortune aside, a disastrous defeat to relegation rivals Crystal Palace last Tuesday followed by consecutive draws against Preston and West Brom, has left the Hornets only a single place above the relegation zone on goal difference.
After a decent point at Preston two days earlier, Mackay was without Heidar Helguson, Martin Taylor and Henri Lansbury for the encounter with the Baggies, but Watford looked the more spirited team during the first half.
Will Buckley almost found his way though the West Brom defence and Adrian Mariappa's volley was turned over by Scott Carson after seven minutes.
Jay DeMerit came on in place of the injured Lloyd Doyley soon after but Watford continued to assert pressure.
Cleverley's free kick sailed just over the crossbar and Danny Graham's header was blocked on 23 minutes.
Tensions were certainly riding high for both teams as a scuffle between John Eustace and Graham Dorrans resulted in a booking for Eustace, with players from both sides involved in the pre-decision ruckus.
Despite remaining goalless, the Hornets took the initiative into the break with Buckley firing just wide.
Watford have regularly been guilty of starting the second half of games slowly in recent memory, but Mariappa's powerful strike signalled their intentions, the shot ultimately held by Carson.
Under the strain of a dangerous West Brom attack, Watford's defence remained resolute, notably under the leadership of DeMerit and the impressive Dale Bennett.
However the Hornets hit a spell of bad luck as Buckley hobbled off before a clash involving Tom Cleverley left the youngster rolling on the floor in agony.
Clearly in pain, the winger was carried off much to the dismay of the fans.
Mackay's side were then reduced to 10 men as Harley picked up a second yellow card for a foul on James Morrison.
With their backs to the wall, Watford has to rely on a good save from Scott Loach, but took an unlikely lead soon after.
Don Cowie's header fell to Danny Graham who struck a sweet volley from the outside of the area, the ball flying into the bottom corner of the net to deservedly send Vicarage Road into raptures on 84 minutes.
Facing six minutes of injury time however, the Hornets inevitably fell deep and eventually were undone by a heartbreaking back-post header from Chris Brunt.
Boss Mackay hailed a brave effort from his players but was unable to give any insight into Tom Cleverley's injury:
"Obviously they (the player] are very disappointed walking off the pitch, but I've been in there and spoken to them and said if anyone's got any disappointment we'll sit down and I'll show you whole game again and show you the amount of performances, the size of the performance you've just put in."
"He (Cleverley] is in there being assessed by our physios along with our other guys who are being patched up at the moment and he is obviously walking wounded, and there are ice packs everywhere so him and the other guys are just going to be assessed over the next couple of days."
Watford next face fellow strugglers Plymouth in another vital six pointer at Vicarage Road on Saturday, and the Hornets will undoubtedly be counting on a win to give them further life in their fight for survival.
Don Cowie's header fell to Danny Graham who struck a sweet volley from the outside of the area, the ball flying into the bottom corner of the net to deservedly send Vicarage Road into raptures on 84 minutes.
Facing six minutes of injury time however, the Hornets inevitably fell deep and eventually were undone by a heartbreaking back-post header from Chris Brunt.
Boss Mackay hailed a brave effort from his players but was unable to give any insight into Cleverley's injury.
"Obviously they [the players] are very disappointed walking off the pitch, but I've been in there and spoken to them and said if anyone's got any disappointment we'll sit down and I'll show you whole game again and show you the amount of performances, the size of the performance you've just put in."
"He [Cleverley] is in there being assessed by our physios along with our other guys who are being patched up at the moment and he is obviously walking wounded, and there are ice packs everywhere so him and the other guys are just going to be assessed over the next couple of days."
Watford next face fellow strugglers Plymouth in another vital six pointer at Vicarage Road on Saturday, and the Hornets will undoubtedly be counting on a win to give them further life in their fight for survival.
Watford's Tom Cleverley lies injured before being stretchered off, and inset, Jon Harley sees red. Pictures by Malcolm Armstrong.
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Weather for Tring
Wednesday 08 February 2012
Today
Cloudy
Temperature: -3 C to 0 C
Wind Speed: 16 mph
Wind direction: East
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Cloudy
Temperature: -0 C to 2 C
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