Watford star hopes to be ‘smiling at full-time’ after Elland Road clash v ‘good challenge’ Leeds
Watford attacker Ismael Kone hopes his side will be “smiling at full-time” with a victory over Leeds United, who offer a tough test for the Hornets.
Speaking to Watford’s official club site (22 September) ahead of his trip to Elland Road on Saturday (23 September), the Canadian international suggested that the game against the recently-Premier League Leeds would reflect where the Hornets are as a club.
The 21-year-old remained confident of a victory but hopes his side will take the positives from their midweek 2-2 draw at Vicarage Road against West Brom.
Kone said: “For me, these games are what we play and train for. Leeds were in the Premier League last year – we want to be in the Premier League next year so it will be a good challenge and a good indicator of where we are as a team.
“We’ve shown flashes of what we can do and we’re confident we can go there and get the result we’re looking for. We’ll look to take the good bits out of Wednesday, sharpen up the bits we know we need to improve and hopefully we’ll be smiling at full-time.”
Big encounter
It would be odd for a football player to say anything other than wanting a win in their next game, but Kone’s comments show how highly regarded Daniel Farke’s side is among the other promotion chasers.
A Watford win would be a true statement of intent from Valérien Ismaël’s side, who sit just one point below Leeds in the Championship table. Farke himself will be very eager to get back to winning ways after escaping the MKM Stadium with a point against Hull City.
The Tigers should have snatched all three points at the death, but Adama Traore’s shocking miss in the 90th minute saved Leeds’ blushes but exposed further defensive issues.
This, coupled with Joe Rodon’s absence after his red card in midweek, left a lot of work to be done on the training ground, and Farke will demand from his men that this is implemented across this game against Watford.
Besides the single point that keeps Watford five places below the Whites, there is very little to separate the sides. Both have conceded seven goals in their opening seven matches, but Watford (11) narrowly edge Leeds (10) in terms of goalscoring.
This tees up a tight affair, but, bar a draw, only one set of players will have the right to be grinning when the full-time whistle blows.
In other Leeds United news, A Patrick Bamford emergency may now be in place at Leeds United after an injury update.