Walter Mazzarri reckons Watford must show some mettle at Middlesbrough
Saturday 15 October 2016 11:10, UK
Watford boss Walter Mazzarri believes his to side must show some mettle to avoid a repeat of the loss at Burnley when his side play at Middlesbrough on Sunday.
The Hornets were beaten 2-0 at Turf Moor in their most recent away fixture in the Premier League and responded by twice fighting back to draw 2-2 at home to Bournemouth prior to the international break.
Mazzarri is expecting a tough encounter at the Riverside, but he is seeking a better response from his players.
"It will be a very hard game," Mazzarri said.
"We have to be focused, to play our game, to play very well defensively. We have to keep in mind the game against Burnley so we know what mistakes not to repeat."
Mazzarri reckons captain Troy Deeney's assertion that Watford were "bullied" by the Clarets, who wanted victory more, was spot on.
"Troy said what we all thought in the dressing room, even me. I was the first one to go out and say the same thing," Mazzarri said.
"We admitted that we played very bad. We have been working on it for it not to happen again. I promised myself that Burnley would not happen again.
"We showed against Bournemouth a big reaction."
Watford last kept a clean sheet in April when they won away at West Brom, while they have conceded 13 Premier League goals this season, scoring 12.
And the Burnley loss was the first time Watford had failed to score since the defeat at Liverpool in early May, although Mazzarri reckons the absence of Craig Cathcart and Miguel Britos has been a factor.
Mazzarri said: "There's something we have to improve. We always created many opportunities. We need to improve defensively.
"I don't want to justify anything, but we have been missing players like Britos and Cathcart.
"Even the game against Bournemouth, we allowed too many chances. This is something we're working on.
"The goals we have given to the opposition in the past weeks have been many because we were not concentrating on that particular moment.
"This is something we have to focus on in the upcoming games."
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