Michael Ball highlights key motivation factor for Everton players ahead of Watford showdown
Michael Ball has asked Everton players to remember their humiliating defeat against Watford when they will face the Hornets on Wednesday.
The last time when both teams met in the Premier League, it was the Yellow Army who came out on top with a stunning 5-2 win while playing at the Goodison Park.
Ball, in a column for Liverpool Echo, suggested that Everton players must remember the pain and humiliation after that defeat which will give them extra motivation going into the encounter.
“Everton will have enjoyed their trip back from Leicester on Sunday evening,” he wrote. “But now we’re coming up against a Watford team who embarrassed us at Goodison Park, winning 5-2 after we’d been 2-1 up with just 12 minutes to go.
“That will have hurt the players and Goodison was a very different place back then and they will have come off the pitch to boos and jeers. They need to remember that hurt and pay Watford back for that. Now it’s Everton’s chance to return the favour and come away with another three points on their travels, that’s how you repay the fans.
“Now that Watford’s relegation has been confirmed, the pressure is off them to a great extent and they might try and play some more free-flowing football but we still need to get a result and points on the board.”
Crucial week
Everton secured vital back-to-back wins against Chelsea and Leicester City to move up to the 16th spot in the league table, a point above 17th placed Burnley and 18th placed Leeds United, that too with a game in hand as well.
The character shown by the players in those two matches must give the Goodison Park-faithful more than some hope going into the final four games in the campaign.
The match against Watford seems to be a golden opportunity for the Toffees to strengthen their position in an intense relegation battle where every point will mean a big deal.
The Hornets are a side having little or no motivation left other than finishing 19th on the league table which would ensure a couple of million pounds more for the club going into the second-tier of English football.
Therefore, manager Frank Lampard would be hoping that his players will take this opportunity and get the all-important three points.
In other Everton news, Rio Ferdinand stunned by what one Everton ace did in win v Leicester
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