Defence awesome as Rodgers celebrates

Brendan Rodgers hailed Watford’s back four as he claimed his first away win as Watford boss.

Adrian Mariappa, club captain Jay DeMerit, new signing Mike Williamson and Lloyd Doyley were the four in defence as Watford managed to keep a second clean sheet in a row for the first time this season.

Mike Williamson, who signed from Wycombe Wanderers in the transfer window, put in a superb performance and claimed his first ever goal in Watford colours.

Speaking of Williamson’s display, a delighted Rodgers said: “I think you see he’s a terrific player. We gave the boys – the defenders – a round of applause because they’ve taken some stick this year.

“I repeat, we defend as a team and now you see how our organisation is set up, we now defend as a team.

“They’ve taken real stick for being defensively poor and I had to give them a round of applause today because I thought they were brilliant and it’s their third clean sheet in four league games.

“The two centre-halves were brilliant and that’s the Jay DeMerit I know and I think he’s more comfortable when he has a number one centre-half alongside him. We’ve done a lot of work and Mike’s come in and been outstanding.

“It’s great when things work. You have to practice and work at your set pieces and when it’s a tight game that is the thing that makes the difference. It was a great goal from Mike, a terrific ball in from Jobi and Mike’s got his goal.”

At half-time neither team were worthy of the lead. One can only presume Rodgers said something that fired the players up for the second half as the Golden Boys looked a more dominant force.

“Second half we were excellent,” he commented. “I said to the players at half-time that I felt that there were going to be big questions asked of us today.

“We played very well against Chelsea and just lost out, we got the performance of the week nationally and got an award for it [against Swansea], but people are now going to look at us coming away to Blackpool on a long trip, on a difficult pitch, and that will be the test for us.

“I thought that first-half we probably waited on the game a little bit, I thought we looked solid enough but never really looked like scoring.

“I said to the players at half-time we can keep going the way we’re going and probably draw nil-nil or maybe lose a goal and lose one-nil, which would be a shame because we’ve been working really, really well. Or, we move through the gears a little bit more and go up a notch or two and maybe win the game two or three-nil. I thought we did that second half.

“We have confidence now in terms of the shape and what we’re doing, which makes us very, very solid. We have got terrific players to play football and go on and make things happen for us.

“Second half we always looked like we could score a goal and we looked solid from behind. We’re on the up and the team looks solid.”

Another player Rodgers is excited about is Hungarian forward Tamas Priskin. His top quality finish took his tally to ten for the season and was his third in three games.

“That finish there is the mark of a top, top striker. He’s one v one and he’s had the confidence to chop back in again and as the ‘keeper went to ground he has just lifted it over and it is a wonderful finish.

“Jobi rolled what seemed like an easy pass, but it wasn’t. He rolled it into Tamas’ feet and how he finished – he is a Premier League striker. There’s absolutely no question about that.

“Tamas is a great project. I know the international player and how they work and they are not always the big British battering ram, but they have to show moments of strength. It’s just the case of keeping on at him about his work rate because there is absolutely no doubt he has the big qualities.”