Winning is all that matters to Boothroyd

It was back in September when Watford suffered their only away defeat to date, going down 3-1 at the Ricoh Arena against Coventry. They have played another five games away from home since with two wins and three draws.

Watford were one of the favourites for relegation before a ball was kicked this season, but they have certainly proved the bookies wrong and are still up there in third place although, just like everyone else, they are some distance away from the top two.

Manager Adrian Boothroyd, who arrived as Vicarage Road boss just in time for their visit to Burnley last season, said he wanted to instil a winning mentality and we certainly saw that back in August when they wouldn’t put the ball out with Brian Jensen down injured, it all ending with Watford’s third goal.

If that was bad then it got worse with Boothroyd’s comments after the game when he admitted that winning was everything and more important than our injured goalkeeper. It is certainly something that failed to go down well with anyone from Burnley.

There’s been little transfer activity since we met on the third Saturday of the season with only two players coming in and they have had little effect. Trevor Benjamin spent a month on loan from Peterborough and featured in two games whilst former England striker Les Ferdinand signed during September but he hasn’t played.

Former Cheltenham winger and supposed one time Burnley target Martin Devaney signed for the Hornets during the summer but without playing a game he was on his way before the transfer window closed and is now playing his football in League One for Barnsley. Boothroyd said he was about fourth choice for a place in the side.

So Boothroyd returns to Burnley, where it all started and it will certainly be a different looking Watford side this time. Only four of the players he selected to start in that game last April are still with the club, they are Jay DeMerit, Ashley Young, James Chambers and Gavin Mahon.

They arrive at Burnley unbeaten in ten games, with five wins and five draws, the last four of them all resulting in draws.

Click HERE to see all Watford’s results this season.

It is not a full strength Watford side who are travelling to Burnley and it is up front where they have some problems. Ashley Young has been out since last month and is ruled out until January whilst a likely replacement, Darius Henderson the former Gillingham striker, has been out with a hip injury.

Henderson is just about fit but Boothroyd is not expected to risk him with the Christmas fixtures coming up and it will be a surprise to see him in the squad. Also out is Dominic Blizzard who, like Young, is not expected back until early in the New Year.

Defender Jay DeMerit has been playing up front and the manager said he could well continue in that position tomorrow although he does have options with Joel Grant or Francino Francis.

It is more than probable that Watford will start with the same team that drew with Plymouth last week and they lined up on that occasion: Ben Foster, Lloyd Doyley, Malky Mackay, Clarke Carlisle, Jordan Stewart, Paul Devlin, Matthew Spring, Gavin Mahon, Anthony McNamee, Marlon King, Jay DeMerit. Subs from; Alec Chamberlain, James Chambers, Alhassan Bangura, Adrian Mariappa, Joel Grant, Francino Francis.

Click HERE to see the full Watford squad.

Burnley will have to make at least one change with defender Keith Lowe having returned to Wolves after a very successful loan period at the Turf. We are still hoping to bring him back but the ridiculous transfer rules mean we have to wait until January before we can do anything about it.

Although Lowe is gone, we have Jon Harley returning after serving a one match suspension against his former club Sheffield United last week and that could well be the only change as the Clarets look to get back to winning ways.

If that’s the case the Burnley team will be: Brian Jensen, Michael Duff, Frank Sinclair, John McGreal, Jon Harley, Nathan Dyer, John Spicer, Micah Hyde, James O’Connor, Garreth O’Connor, Ade Akinbiyi. Subs: Lee Grant, Danny Karbassiyoon, Wade Elliott, Graham Branch, Gifton Noel-Williams.

It is also expected to be the last time we can include goalkeeper Lee Grant, his month’s loan comes to an end after this game and he’s expected to return to Derby.

Burnley gave Watford a hammering in the first half at the Turf last season when goals from Dean Bowditch, still the last goal he scored, and James O’Connor, his first for the Clarets, gave us a 2-0 lead.

But following a triple substitution in the second half, Watford came back at us and pulled a goal back before Ade Akinbiyi crossed for Jean-Louis Valois to ensure the points were ours with a late third.

The teams were,

Burnley: Brian Jensen, Frank Sinclair, Gary Cahill, John McGreal, Mo Camara, John Oster (Jean-Louis Valois 88), Micah Hyde, James O’Connor, Graham Branch (Michael Duff 81), Dean Bowditch (Tony Grant 81), Ade Akinbiyi. Subs not used: Danny Coyne, Lee Roche.

Watford: Richard Lee, James Chambers, Neil Cox, Jay DeMerit, Jack Smith (Jermaine Darlington 73), Chris Eagles (Anthony McNamee 73), Brynjar Gunnarsson (Dominic Blizzard 73), Gavin Mahon, Ashley Young, Hameur Bouazza, Bruce Dyer. Subs not used: Alex Chamberlain, Lloyd Doyley.