Pearson wants to ease burden on Deeney
Manager Nigel Pearson wants to ease the goal burden on captain Troy Deeney in Watford's fight for Premier League survival and see others contribute.
Since Pearson took over at Watford two months ago, only Manchester City’s Sergio Aguero and Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah have netted more times (seven goals each) in the top flight than Deeney, who has scored five goals.
Watford’s scoring record is reflected in their lowly league posisition and they have found the back of the net just 23 times from their 25 matches this term, just one more goal than Crystal Palace who have the worst record in the division.
Ahead of his side’s pivotal clash against Brighton, who are also scrapping to salvage their top-flight status, Pearson is keen for Deeney’s team-mates to pitch in and does not want the side to totally rely on the frontman.
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Pearson said: “The bottom line is that we need to find goals throughout the squad. You have to accept that players will get themselves into scoring positions, and generally speaking, Troy does do that but we need to find ways of other people contributing too, and that is an ongoing process which we are trying to find the answers to.”
Successive defeats to Aston Villa and Everton have sucked Watford back into the drop zone and they will head to the Amex Stadium for Saturday’s late kick-off two points and two places adrift of safety.
Tyrone Mings struck in the fifth minute of stoppage time to win all three points for Villa in January, while Theo Walcott scored at the death to complete a 3-2 comeback victory for 10-man Everton at Vicarage Road last weekend.
“I don’t want to make something out of nothing,” Pearson said of the late goals his side have conceded.
“I could waste an awful lot of energy putting the players under more pressure of pointing out something they are acutely aware of.”
