Back home and in need of a boost

It's incredible really that there has been so much negativity since Saturday after what was only our second league defeat of the season. The problem is that it has followed three successive draws and it is as if the brilliant run of seven wins on the spin, plus a couple more in the cup to add to that, had never happened.

They did happen and, despite this latest run of just three points from four games, it means we are still in second place in the Championship, dropping off top spot with that Huddersfield defeat after sixty days in pole position.

With no signings made last week on the emergency loan deadline, suddenly the board has come into question again, the players have and even manager Sean Dyche, even to the point of some fans on the message board questioning him tactically.

The defeat has not affected morale says Brian Stock

Tonight we face Watford at home. It's our first home game for over three weeks incredibly due to the stupidity of the Football League and it's fixture planning. Quite how we get two successive Saturdays on the road to follow an international break makes absolutely no sense.

So, it is good to be back home and it will be equally good to get that much needed win to start moving us forward again.

I just wonder what the team will be tonight. Michael Duff is ruled out with a one match suspension, just as he was for the corresponding fixture last season, and Dean Marney is not going to play, he's missed all of this current run other than the draw against Bournemouth.

David Edgar has filled in for him previously but he was withdrawn at half time on Saturday after a horror 45 minutes. Brian Stock replaced him at half time and it could well be, particularly given that he was wheeled out for the pre-match media, that he will get his first league start since the last match of last season.

Referring to Saturday's defeat, Stock said today: "That defeat is not going to affect the morale in the camp." On his chances of starting tonight, he added: "I just need to be ready and if the manager decides he wants to play me then I'll be ready."

I suspect Stock will start but the big problem could come with Danny Ings. I'm led to believe he is touch and go for tonight but I suspect he might be missing to ensure he's fully fit for Saturday's home game against Barnsley.

If Ings does miss out, then either Junior Stanislas or Michael Kightly, who was also way off form at Huddersfield, could play off Sam Vokes with the Clarets trying to keep to a similar system.

We could line up tonight: Tom Heaton, Kieran Trippier, Kevin Long, Jason Shackell, Ben Mee, Scott Arfield, Brian Stock, David Jones, Michael Kightly, Junior Stanislas, Sam Vokes. Subs from: Alex Cisak, Alex Coleman, Danny Lafferty, Steven Hewitt, Cameron Howieson, Keith Treacy, Ryan Noble.

Things haven't been too good for Watford recently either. When they won at Huddersfield on 5th October they were very handily placed in fifth place in the table. At that time they were just five points behind us and QPR, at the time the top two.

Since, it has been a bit downhill but more so at home than away. They've won only two points from six games, recording draws in their two away games at Brighton and Middlesbrough. They've played four home games in this period, losing all four against Derby, Leicester, Bolton and Yeovil.

It was the Yeovil defeat that shocked most at Watford and that's left manager Gianfranco Zola facing some criticism from the fans. It is very unlikely that his position would be under any threat however, having been placed in charge by Udinese and the Pozzo family.

They are currently tenth in the table. They are certainly a team capable of scoring goals. They've got 27 in the league so far but their problem has been at the back where they've conceded 24. Troy Deeney remains the biggest threat. He's their leading scorer with seven while Lewis McGugan, signed from Nottingham Forest, has five and Fernando Foriestieri, who scored twice against us last season at Vicarage Road, has four.

They do have some injury problems which are ongoing which means all of Lloyd Doyley (hamstring), Ikechi Anya (calf), Essaid Belkalem (ankle) and Tommie Hoban (ankle) are again missing.

Gabriele Angella is on his way back but the defender looks unlikely to be ready for tonight but there could be places for goalkeeper Manuel Almunia and Josh McEachran who have both been suffering with illness.

The Watford team against Yeovil was: Jonathan Bond, Joel Ekstrand, Nyron Nosworthy, Marco Cassetti, Hector Bellerin, Lewis McGugan, George Thorne, Sean Murray, Daniel Pudil, Fernando Forestieri, Troy Deeney. Subs: Gary Woods, Fitz Hall, Iriney, Cristian Batocchio, Diego Fabbrini, Javier Acuna, Davide Faraoni.

Last Time They Were Here

Back to December 2012 and the visit of Watford. It was the day that Kevin Long got his first start for Burnley, coming in for the suspended Michael Duff. Sean Dyche made two other changes to the team that had lost at Nottingham Forest a week earlier. David Edgar was preferred to Brian Stock in midfield with Junior Stanislas taking the place of Chris McCann who, like Duff, was serving a one match ban.

We played a sort of 4-1-4-1 formation with Edgar in the holding role and Danny Ings, the player in the midfield pushing up to support Charlie Austin.

Charlie Austin scored from the penalty spot

Watford opened the scoring but it was a strange one. They won a corner and it came into the box. As two players went for the ball referee Phil Gibbs blew. It wasn't clear what he'd seen. Had we conceded a penalty or was it a free kick our way?

He spoke to Long; he spoke to Troy Deeney and then incredibly allowed the corner to be taken again. We half cleared it; it came back but Edgar's header went straight to Nathaniel Chalobah who hit a shot through the crowded box and into the bottom corner of the net.

Our equaliser came when we won a free kick on the right. Ross Wallace's delivery was perfect for Ings but Edgar, who was not having the best of days, got in the way and that allowed Watford to scramble it away for a corner.

Wallace took the corner short to Dean Marney.  He went down under a challenge from Almen Abdi and Gibbs pointed to the spot. Charlie Austin scored from the resulting penalty to make the score 1-1.

From that point on we should really have gone on and won the game but Watford's hero was Manual Almunia who was singled out by his manager at the end of the game as their best player.

It was a third 1-1 draw in four games that had left us in 16th place in the table.

The teams were;

Burnley: Lee Grant, Kieran Trippier, Kevin Long, Jason Shackell, Danny Lafferty, David Edgar, Ross Wallace (Sam Vokes 90+2), Dean Marney, Danny Ings (Keith Treacy 84), Martin Paterson (Junior Stanislas 72), Charlie Austin. Subs not used: Brian Jensen, Joseph Mills, Marvin Bartley, Brian Stock.

Watford: Manual Almunia, Joel Ekstrand Fitz Hall, Tommie Hoban, Marco Cassetti, Jonathan Hogg, Almen Abdi, Nathaniel Chalobah (Mark Yeates 45), Daniel Pudil (Ikechi Anya 90+1), Troy Deeney, Alexander Geijo (Matej Vydra 72). Subs not used: Jack Bonham, Piccoli Neuton, Steve Beleck, Cristian Battocchio.

Previous Games against Watford

Click HERE to see all previous results against Watford