Mazzarri: Watford still ahead of season target

Walter Mazzarri insists he is still the right man to lead Watford this season despite suffering their fifth defeat in seven games on Sunday.

The Hornets were thrashed 4-1 by Spurs, with their only goal of the game, and only shot on target, coming in injury-time through Younes Kaboul.

Watford’s last victory came in early December when they edged Everton out 3-2, but despite their recent blip in form, Mazzarri insists the bigger picture must be looked at.

“From the first day I arrived, I spoke with the club and the president. When we spoke, the first objective, which has always been the same, was to avoid relegation,” he said.

“In this moment, if we look at the table we are doing even better than the starting objective. We could have been where Crystal Palace are or other teams, but we aren’t.

“This has always been the first objective and we’re doing ok.”

(Photo by Richard Heathcote/Getty Images)

Watford have been plagued by injuries over the festive period, with Juan Camilo Zuniga and Nordin Amrabat both limping off at Vicarage Road on Sunday to add to a long list of players currently on the sidelines.

But Mazzarri remains optimistic his side can turn their fortunes around upon his squad’s return to full strength.

“I’m the first one to say before we had all the injuries and all the players missing we were doing something extraordinary,” he said.

“We were doing something much bigger than the expectations so this is something we also need to take into consideration.”