Chris Wilder plans to ‘enjoy the weekend’ as Watford return to winning ways

Posted Sunday, April 16, 2023 by PA

Chris Wilder joined in the collective sigh of relief around Vicarage Road after watching his Watford team enjoy fortune at both ends of the pitch in their 2-0 victory over Bristol City.

An own goal by Harry Cornick, turning in a Joao Pedro cross-shot, gave the hosts an early lead before City keeper Max O’Leary allowed a Pedro shot to squeeze through his legs.

Wilder said: “It’s a win on Saturday afternoon. We have waited a long time for one of them. We’ll enjoy our weekend.

“It was a tight game with more positives than negatives and it felt nice to get a win at home.

“We had a slice of luck when they hit the post and maybe for the first time since I’ve been here we rode our luck.

“I wanted us to get on the ball more after half-time. We were more positive in the second half against a young energetic side that made it difficult for us. I have a lot of respect for Nigel and the teams he puts out.”

Wilder refused to be drawn on whether Watford’s play-off hopes have been rekindled by the victory, with Hornets three points off the top six.

He added: “The difficulties of the Championship mean that we will have another tough game against Cardiff in midweek. They will have a lot to fight for, but we’ve got to find that consistency from one game to the next.

“I want to get another performance like that from the players. We can’t have inconsistencies from game to game

“What pleased me today was that the players have tried to win by doing the right things and playing in the structure that we created for them. But I’m not going to be jumping through hoops just because we’ve put two performances together.

“I haven’t seen the other results and I won’t be looking at the table until we put consistent performances together.”

City manager Nigel Pearson admitted fortune was not with his side after watching Nahki Wells strike the Watford woodwork twice in the second half.

Pearson said: “We played well. We created lots of opportunities. The problem is we couldn’t take them today.

“We made the keeper work. The keeper made some good saves, it just didn’t turn out the way we wanted but it wasn’t through a lack of effort. We played some patient football and some good football.

“I don’t have too many complaints today. We want the players to continue to play at full tilt until the end of the season, but the game is all about what you do in both boxes. The margins are very, very small in the Championship.

“Their first goal, poor Harry gets a clearance that ricochets off him. That’s life. I can’t really give you accurate thoughts about the second one but it looked to me like Max was unsighted. It was a vicious dipping shot.

“The timing of the second goal was unfortunate because it looked like they were tiring physically and that it looked like we were getting on top.”

Pearson is pleased with the progress made at Ashton Gate this season, with a comfortable mid-table finish now all but assured.

He said: “Most football fans are very knowledgeable in terms of what they see and we are trying to be as transparent as possible with the fan base.

“You won’t hear me bleating on about money and resources. We are all working very hard at the club to find a route to success.”

The former Watford manager also acknowledged the warm reception he was given by the Vicarage Road crowd prior to kick-off, having been sacked before his efforts to keep the club in the Premier League at the end of the 2019-20 season were allowed to run their course.

Pearson said: “Whenever you leave a football club as a manager, it doesn’t feel as though it’s really nice, but I really enjoyed my time here.

“There are a lot of staff I still keep in touch with now and it was great to receive a warm welcome.”