Watford manager Roy Hodgson has challenged his players to follow the example of captain Moussa Sissoko as they battle to keep their Premier League survival bid alive.
The Hornets slumped to a 4-0 defeat at Wolves on Thursday night, leaving them three points from safety – but having played more matches than the two sides directly above them.
Former England boss Hodgson, who replaced Claudio Ranieri at the end of January, takes his side to Southampton on Sunday in desperate need of a positive result.
Hodgson feels his squad have enough about them to drag themselves out of the bottom three, but need to channel their focus in the same way as their veteran skipper.
“I don’t normally single out a player from our side, but I thought Moussa Sissoko and everything he did (against Wolves) was fantastic,” Hodgson said of France’s 32-year-old former Tottenham midfielder.
“If we can get some of that spirit, some of that determination, some of that desire, some of that anxiety that we need to feel.
“And the thing is, these players need to feel anxiety because we are running out of time.”
Midfielder Peter Etebo made a welcome comeback from a quad problem which had sidelined him since September with a late cameo off the bench at Molineux, where Watford were 3-0 down inside 21 minutes.
The Nigeria international was left “short of words” by the manner of the Hornets’ capitulation, but was confident the squad could swiftly recover focus.
“I am not happy with the result, but what’s happened has happened and it is for us to look forward to the next game,” he said on the Watford club website.
“I am excited to be back. It has been a long time, five months that I have been out, so I need to make sure I do all the work well to make sure everything is back to normal.
“But even if I am back on the pitch, we are still at the bottom of the table which is not a good result.
“So although I am glad to be back, I know there is a lot of work for us to do.”
