Three points satisifies Rodgers

Brendan Rodgers has said Watford have momentum after they kept a third clean sheet in a row to beat Crystal Palace 2-0 at Vicarage Road.

Rodgers has said that he was satisfied with three points and was pleased with the confidence his side showed during the victory.

Neil Warnock’s side were very direct and, at times, bombarded the home side’s box with balls over the top.

“I thought we coped outstandingly well with it, obviously when the ball is being loaded into the box, through throws and balls up front, there are always going to be moments when you’ve got to be brave and get blocks in,” said Rodgers.

“Overall I thought we were excellent and stood up to it. We had a good structure to the team and we got the goals at good moments.”

January signing Mike Williamson produced yet another outstanding performance for the Golden Boys and has been superb alongside club captain Jay Demerit since his arrival.

He added: “He’s been outstanding, when we develop our game you’ll see other sides to him as well because he can play football too and you can see that in little patches.

“You didn’t need to be a rocket scientist to realise that we were leaking far too many goals for my liking, so he has come in and become the number one centre half.

“And what that has done is galvanise the others around him, Jay [DeMerit], Mariappa, Doyley and the team.”

Jay DeMerit headed for the dressing room half way through the second half, after complaining about a troublesome calf.

But the boss reassured supporters and said it was only a precautionary move and that the American hasn’t pulled his calf, he had merely felt it tighten up during the game.

Another January signing, Don Cowie, scored his first goal for Watford and made a good all round contribution throughout the game.

Speaking of his Scottish playmaker, Rodgers commented: “He’s another type of player I like and that’s a footballer with energy.

“He moves well around the pitch, understands his touch and can play in a number of positions.

“His finish was great, he could have been disappointed when he went through because of the first time. But he’s gone away again and shown great composure and I’m delighted for him.

“He’s a great professional and you’ll see some real good games from him in the future, that’s for sure.

“His persistence paid off around the corner flag for the second goal, it allowed us to get the ball and finish.”

Rodgers was quick to mention how it was hard work that had seen Watford’s recent change in fortunes, not any magic of his own.

“I just feel the art of our success is hard work and the hard work we put in every day on the training field, it is no trick.

“It’s not easy, it’s just purely hard work. The players have adapted to how I work and I think we’re seeing the benefits of that.

“I was reasonably comfortable with the structure of the team today, maybe that wee killer pass in that middle to final third was missing, but listen, we scored two good goals, got a clean sheet and momentum is very important in football and we’ve got that at the moment.”