Town boss Kieran McKenna wants another big Portman Road night under the floodlights when Watford visit for - hopefully - the last evening home game of the season on Wednesday evening.

The Blues, who have five matches remaining, are third in the Championship following Tuesday’s matches, leaders Leicester and Leeds having dropped points.

Leicester were beaten 1-0 at Millwall, while Leeds were held to a 0-0 draw at home to Sunderland.

Town are a point off the Foxes and behind the Whites on goal difference.

Watford are currently 14th in the table, 16 points from the play-offs and nine off the relegation zone, so would appear, disastrous end to the season aside, to be out of the hunt for promotion and in no danger of going down.

The Hornets have won only one of their last eight and two of their last 15 in the Championship. They have drawn their last three, Saturday’s goalless draw at home to Preston North End, a 2-2 stalemate at West Brom and a draw with Leeds with the same scoreline prior to that.

Tom Cleverley was named interim-manager on March 9th following Valerien Ismael’s dismissal having previously been working as the Hornets’ U18s coach.

Cleverley, 34, has now been in charge for four matches and remains unbeaten, the three draws following a 1-0 victory at Birmingham in his first game.

Watford have been better away than at Vicarage Road this season, standing eighth in an away-only Championship table having taken 28 points - compared with 23 at home - after seven wins, seven draws and six defeats. At home, they most recently won in the league in November when they defeated Norwich City 3-2.

Despite their poor recent form overall, they have won two of their last four away games, drawing one and losing one.

Despite their season having little in it from a competitive point of view, manager Kieran McKenna says the Hornets, who were relegated from the Premier League in 2021/22, can’t be taken lightly.

“It’s going to be a really tough game, there’s no illusions about that,” he said. “I think they have a squad that is easily capable of being in and around the play-off positions, to be honest.

“I think they have depth, they have individual quality, they have physicality, they have good experience in some positions and it’s a really, really strong squad, one of the strongest squads in the division, for sure.

“They haven’t had a fantastic season, but now they’re four games in under a new manager, undefeated in the four, recently coming off draws against Leeds and West Brom where they were 2-0 up in both games.

“You can clearly see when you watch those games that they’re trying to make an impression, I’m sure for themselves but also to impress a new manager and maybe their potential manager.

“We know we’re going to face a good version of Watford, we’re pretty sure of that. But we also know that at Portman Road we’re a really tough team to play against if we perform to our levels and if we can get the atmosphere as it has been all season. We can give anyone a really tough game.

“I expect a really competitive game, we know it’s going to be a big challenge and that’s what we’ve been trying to prepare for.”

Does he believe the lack of pressure in terms of a promotion push or relegation escape could make the Hornets play with less pressure and perhaps therefore be potentially more dangerous than their position suggests?

“I’ve been involved in games like that,” McKenna reflected. “You can get them at a later stage of the season. I’ve been involved in games like that where the other team are playing with a higher degree of freedom than they have for the rest of the season.

“And that can provide a different type of challenge. But I think it would be a really tough game anyway, to be honest.

“It’s a team two years out of the Premier League, who still have quite a few of the same players and they’ve recruited well in some of the other positions. There’s a really high level of individual quality in the team.

“It would be a dangerous game anyway. How it pans out and whether the fact that they’re not one of the teams in the league who have an immediate team goal in terms of the table, whether that affects the game or not it’s impossible to say.

“Our focus can only really be on ourselves and our performance and being ready to face the strongest version of the opponent that we’re going to come up against, as we always do.”

The fixture between the teams at Vicarage Road in December was a closely-fought affair which could have gone either way before the Blues grabbed a winner late on.

“As you would expect,” the Blues manager continued. “Typical of so many of the games this year.

“We had to work really, really hard and perform well just to be competitive in the game and then because of a number of different factors we managed to find what was needed to come out on the right side of a really hard-fought game with notably a really important winning goal from Samy [Morsy] but also some fantastic defensive interventions and performances at the other end.

“It was a really tough game, they’re a tough team, no doubt about it. They’ve played well in their last games and we’re ready for a good battle tomorrow night.”

Although both having Manchester United heritage, the two bosses didn’t cross paths at Old Trafford, Cleverley, then a player, having departed almost a year before McKenna took on the U18s job with the Red Devils.

“No crossover, but, of course, I know lots of people through the Man United association who speak about him very, very well as a player and as a person,” the Blues manager said.

“He knows the staff here. [Assistant manager] Martyn Pert worked with him in his very early days at Watford and everyone speaks very highly about him as a person.

“He’s done a good job so far and I wish him all the best, not going into this game, but you can see the impression he’s made on the team straight away and I’m sure if he wants to do it, he’ll have a good chance to have a good coaching or managerial career.”

Town have had some great nights under lights at Portman Road this season, not least last Monday’s last-gasp 3-2 victory against Southampton, and McKenna is hoping for another one on Wednesday with both players and supporters playing their part.

“That would be fantastic,” he said. “It’s no surprise that the home record has been very good with the performances on the pitch, but massively driven on by the atmosphere in the stands and how players and supporters have backed each other and fed off each other as well. We’re really going to need that for the last remaining games.

“The games under floodlights at Portman Road have been something a bit special over the last couple of years really.

“I know we’re coming off a disappointment at the weekend but I’m sure will regroup again and create that atmosphere again and try and create that energy in the performance again. That’s certainly the environment that gives us the best chance of picking up the points.”

McKenna has three players who have played a significant part over the last couple of years, Wes Burns, George Hirst and Janoi Donacien, absent through injury at present, while other members of the squad and continuing to make themselves available despite managing injuries or having been ill.

Is that making it harder to freshen the starting XI with Wednesday’s match the fourth in 13 days.

“We’re missing a couple of important players for us and when you get to the last stages of the season, the ideal scenario is that you have all your players and all your best players and important players available,” McKenna said.

“But that’s not always the case and that’s not the case for us at the moment. We still have good numbers, we still have good options. All the players are fighting for the cause, even those who have different little issues or are generally managing to make themselves available for the games and put themselves up there, and that’s fantastic.

“I think we’ve shown, even in the last few weeks, even with the players that we’ve had missing, that we can still have competitive teams to start, we can still have players coming off the bench making a good impact and we’re certainly going to need that on Wednesday and we’re certainly going to need that with the quick turnaround on Saturday as well.”

McKenna says the game being on Wednesday rather than the Tuesday is a benefit with Town having looked tired at Carrow Road at the weekend.

“I think so,” he said. “We hope to be able to show that tomorrow night. I think every 24 hours makes a difference in the recovery, especially after the Easter that we had and then a game like we had on Saturday, I think it’s a good week to play on the Wednesday.

“It doesn’t mean the game’s going to be any easier but hopefully it gives us the best chance of giving the best account of ourselves.”

Vaclav Hladky will be in goal with Luke Woolfenden and Cameron Burgess again set to be the centre-halves and Leif Davis the left-back.

McKenna could look to make a change at right-back with Axel Tuanzebe having started all three games since the international break - as well as one before it - and Harry Clarke perhaps getting the nod for this one.

In central midfield, skipper Morsy could be partnered by Jack Taylor with Massimo Luongo also having started the last three matches.

In the three ahead of them, Conor Chaplin looks set to be in the middle with McKenna having to decide whether to start Nathan Broadhead, Jeremy Sarmiento or Marcus Harness on the left.

On the right, the Blues boss may opt to give Omari Hutchinson a rest and start Kayden Jackson. Kieffer Moore will be the number nine.

Watford interim-manager Cleverley is anticipating plenty of goals with both teams very positive.

“I’m really looking forward to the game, as are the squad. I think it’s an exciting game. For us to be a big part of the promotion run-in and have a big say in that keeps us motivated,” he told his club’s official website.

“[With Ipswich] it's very much ‘we’ll outscore you’. They’ve got one of the most productive full-backs in the league with Davis, they’ve got excitement with Hutchinson and Broadhead and now they’ve signed Kieffer Moore who’s notoriously one of the best Championship strikers around.

“They’ve got a lot going for them going forward, but as have we. I wouldn’t be surprised if there are goals.

“If you analyse the Preston game, we didn’t deal well with them just sitting in a block. We didn’t prepare too much for that so we’ve got to look at ourselves as a coaching staff and we’ll be a lot more prepared the next time it does happen.

“I’m sure we will create more chances against a team which has the same ambition of winning the game as we do.”

Cleverley is looking forward to pitting himself against fellow Old Trafford alumnus McKenna.

“Personally I’m excited to challenge myself against a top young coach like Kieran,” he added.

“He’s had a background [at Manchester United] with him and Michael Carrick under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. He’s done fantastically well to get promoted to the Championship and then really set their stamp on the league.

“They’ve got good rotations in the team, they’ve got exciting players, they’re well organised and it will be a difficult test.”

Cleverley hasn’t given Town’s weekend derby defeat an awful lot of consideration: “I’ve not thought too much into that. Obviously we’ve analysed their performance in the game. We’re more concentrated on how we can have an impact on the game than how they will be feeling. And we’re confident we have the players and the game plan to do so.

“They might have more reason to be motivated than us but then it’s my job to balance that out and make sure we’re fully motivated, we’re relentless until the end of the season and we have the feel-good factor moving into the next.”

The Hornets will be without winger Ken Sema and right-back Jeremy Ngakia, who are on the mend after injuries but not yet ready to return.

Historically, the sides are closely matched with the Blues having won 28 games (25 in the league) and Watford 26 (25 in the league), while 17 (17) have ended in draws.

In December, Town returned to the top of the Championship after they came from a goal down to win 2-1 at Watford, skipper Morsy netting the winner 10 minutes from time.

Yaser Asprilla gave Watford the lead in the 12th minute but George Hirst levelled for the Blues on 24 before Morsy seized on an error by Hornets captain Wesley Hoedt to claim all three points.

The Hornets were last at Portman Road back in November 2014 when Town defender Tommy Smith smashed home his second goal of the season from close range seven minutes from time as the Blues won 1-0 to climb to fourth in the Championship.

The central defender was first to a loose ball after a Kevin Bru shot had been blocked following a well-worked free-kick.

In the second half, then-Town loanee Jonny Williams was forced off with a groin injury following a wild Joel Ekstrand lunge which might well have led to a red card rather than the yellow the Swedish defender was shown.

Town’s head of goalkeeping Rene Gilmartin had two spells with the Hornets, between 2010 and 2012 and from 2014 until 2017, but made only seven senior appearances, all in his first stint.

Blues midfielder Dominic Ball was a youth player at Watford before joining Tottenham’s academy in 2011.

Town assistant manager Pert has had two spells at Watford, between March 2005 and November 2008 as a conditioning coach and then again from July 2009 until September 2010 as head of conditioning.

CEO Mark Ashton was chief executive with the Hornets from June 2004 until December 2008.

Watford midfielder Jake Livermore was on loan with the Blues from Spurs from September 2010 until January 2011, making eight starts and four sub appearances under Roy Keane’s management.

Wednesday’s referee is Sam Barrott, who has shown 112 yellow cards and three red in 36 games so far this season in which he has taken charge of his first Premier League matches.

The West Riding-based official, who has now refereed 14 top-flight fixtures, will be taking charge of his fifth Town game this season with his most recent the 4-0 win at Millwall on St Valentine’s Day when he awarded the Blues a late penalty after Ali Al-Hamadi was felled by Murray Wallace that the Iraqi international converted, his first goal for the Blues. Barrott also also yellow-carded Leif Davis and three Lions.

Prior to that, Barrott took control of the 1-1 Boxing Day draw at home to Leicester in which he booked Harness and two Foxes.

He was also the man in the middle for the 3-2 Carabao Cup victory at home to Wolves in September in which he yellow-carded Elkan Baggott, Lee Evans, Sone Aluko and three of the Premier League side.

Barrott also took charge of the opening Championship fixture at Sunderland, which they won 2-1, in which he dismissed Black Cats right-back Trai Hume for two bookable offences and yellow-carded Morsy, Hladky, Burns and one Wearsider.

Last season, Barrott was a late replacement for the 6-0 thrashing of Charlton in April last year after it had emerged that the official originally slated for the game, James Bell, was a fan of Sheffield Wednesday, who at the time were vying with the Blues for League One promotion.


He showed yellow cards to Davis and four to Addicks, two to Ryan Inness, who was then issued with a red with two minutes left on the clock, his fourth dismissal of the season and fifth in just over a year.

Barrott previously took control of the 1-1 draw at Cambridge two months earlier in which he awarded the U’s a penalty after George Edmundson had clumsily felled Conor McGrandles, which Christian Walton saved. Barrott also booked Edmundson, Morsy and two home players.

He was also the man in the middle for the opening game of last season, the home game with Bolton Wanderers, which also ended 1-1, and in which he gave the Trotters a penalty, which was converted by Aaron Morley, after debutant Davis had tripped Conor Bradley. Evans, Woolfenden and two visitors were booked.

Barrott was also in charge of McKenna’s first match as Town boss, the 1-0 home victory over Wycombe Wanderers at Portman Road in December 2021 in which he booked Morsy, Joe Pigott, Matt Penney and one Chairboy.

Squad from: Hladky, Walton, Clarke, Davis, Humphreys, Tuanzebe, Woolfenden, Edmundson, Burgess, Morsy (c), Luongo, Taylor, Travis, Ball, Chaplin, Harness, Jackson, Aluko, Hutchinson, Sarmiento, Broadhead, Moore, Al-Hamadi.

Photo: TWTD

MK1 added 18:21 - Apr 9 We will give it all we've got.
4

Nomore4 added 18:56 - Apr 9 Struggling to think of a more important game in many a year…..
4

IpswichT62OldBoy added 19:23 - Apr 9 They become exponentially more important as each is ticked off. Every time we win we continue the pressure on everyone, including us. Lets enjoy the pressure, the alternative is we are out of it.
5

ImAbeliever added 22:00 - Apr 9 Interesting results this evening, I believe.
2

cfmoses added 23:28 - Apr 9 COYB can’t believe tonight’s results. Get the points on the board
3

bobble added 07:00 - Apr 10 3-1 to town
2

wedgieblue added 08:44 - Apr 10 If we can………. !!!
0

Linkboy13 added 09:50 - Apr 10 Because we haven't got the level of quality in our squad Leeds, Leicester and Southampton have our work rate every game is immense and in the last four or five games we've started to look very tired. But such is the fantastic spirit in the team we could still win this league with Leeds and Leicester wilting under the pressure.
1

Reality_2021 added 11:48 - Apr 10 Hope we can get a result. Ever since the Cardiff game (ignoring the easy Sheffield Wednesday game), we have not looked 100% our best unfortunately. The performance against Norwich was well below par and you would not have known it was a derby game. Fingers crossed lads - monumental season already - but let’s not have any regrets and fall at final hurdle. End the season knowing we performed in every game. Up the town.

2

Nomore4 added 12:09 - Apr 10 Linkboy13. Not sure I agree about Quality. We have equal just players whose career path was different.
1

TimmyH added 12:12 - Apr 10 No games will be easy now...all the top sides now are starting to stumble, time for that psychiatrist (remember him) we employed when McKenna was appointed to earn his money if he's still here as we haven't heard a lot about him since.
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warktheline added 13:14 - Apr 10 @timmy, agree no easy game now, it’s been like that for the past month or so. Watford are very unpredictable but since the change of manager, they’ve hit some reasonable form. Two up at West Brom before slipping to a 2-2, previous to that they played extremely well against Leeds until Dennis left the field of play. My son is a Watford fan , and said last time out, Preston parked the bus at vicarage road. They have some excellent individual attacking players that can win games, as do we, could be a rollercoaster ride!

3

IvorFeeling added 13:21 - Apr 10 We are W3 D2 F15 A6 in the league games played directly after a loss which is a very good response. Both draws against Top 6 sides WBA and Leicester. I know it's exciting but I am feeling sick now with every game as we are so close to getting an auto spot. Take nothing for granted in this div but a win would be massive. Hoping @bobble is right with the score prediction and top two finish

1

TimmyH added 13:30 - Apr 10 @warktheline...I'm feeling nervous now don't worry about the players :) we're really getting to the crux! agree Watford have some dangerous players and as you said Emmanuel Dennis is one player needed to be kept quiet tonight if we're to win! fingers crossed and everything else!
2

warktheline added 15:03 - Apr 10 @timmy, try to enjoy the ride, we’ve been waiting a long time for success…it’s incredible how far we’ve come in a couple of seasons.
1

gosblue added 17:48 - Apr 10 We have some players who are better from the bench and others who are good starters. It works. Let’s just see how many points we get and where we finish. We’re already a huge success this season in my opinion no matter what. COYB
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blueboy1981 added 19:08 - Apr 10 Let’s see a Performance as if we want it - Shall We ?? Not Tippy Tappy sideways and backwards play as if we’re 4-0 up - unless we ARE !!
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