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Charlie Daniels praised Watford’s players for the way they secured a point and pushed for more in the goalless draw at the promotion-chasing Hull just days after Javi Gracia’s abrupt exit.
The Spaniard ended his second spell at Vicarage Road on Sunday, having called for talks with the owner, Gino Pozzo, the previous day after overseeing a 2-0 home defeat against Swansea.
Daniels, the under-21s lead coach, was made caretaker after Gracia’s exit, joined by Adrian Mariappa and Dan Gosling, and two days later oversaw an impressive performance at the MKM Stadium. “It was a really good performance,” the interim manager said. “I thought the lads understood what we asked of them tactically.
“The energy they played with and the quality they showed and they possess, I thought it came through tonight. For me, the only thing missing from that performance was a goal.
“From one training session, the response has been really pleasing. They’ve taken on board what we’ve said and what we’ve asked of them and they’ve implemented it. It showed in our performance.”
Daniels expects to still be in charge when Watford travel to Southampton on Saturday as a whirlwind week continues. “Luckily, on Sunday, we were in prepping for our under-21s game today against QPR,” he said. “We were actually on the pitch at the time when we got called in.
“We went up to see [the chair and chief executive] Scott Duxbury and he informed us that obviously Javi was leaving and we were going to take charge. I don’t really know too much more than that. We say control the controllable.”
This fixture was supposed to be played a month ago only to be postponed 18 minutes before kick-off and it saw Watford end Hull’s run of Championship wins since then.
A fifth successive victory for the Tigers would have put them within two points of the automatic promotion places, but Sergej Jakirovic was delighted to move within four of the top two. “Perfect point for us,” the Hull manager said.
“When you watch everything back, Watford were better on the ball, without the ball. They were very dangerous and we knew it because this is a team with a lot of potential. Powerful, quick, they can make a difference in every part of the pitch.
“They missed some chances, good chances, and I cannot complain about this point. Every point is very important in this league and we are very satisfied with one point.”
Eiran Cashin’s first goal for managerless Blackburn was enough to secure a 1-0 win over bottom-club Sheffield Wednesday and move out of the Championship relegation zone.
After a turbulent few days that saw Valérien Ismaël depart, the on-loan Brighton defender provided much-needed respite by emphatically converting from close range in the 12th minute to ensure Rovers edged a game originally abandoned back in December with the hosts leading.
Blackburn were in control for the majority of the contest and Sondre Tronstad struck the woodwork as they set about calming a nervy Ewood Park. But only a tremendous clearance on the line by Mathias Jørgensen just after the break kept the scores level as he headed on to the crossbar.
They deservedly held on, ending an eight-match winless run to haul themselves out of the drop zone on goal difference, while stretching Wednesday’s sequence without victory to 24.
Sheffield United maintained their impressive home form by coming from behind to beat Oxford 3-1 and move seven points clear of the Championship relegation zone.
Sydie Peck cancelled out Myles Peart-Harris’s early opener for Oxford before the break and second-half goals from Andre Brooks and Chiedozie Ogbene sealed the Blades’ sixth win in their past seven league games at Bramall Lane.
The Blades’ win against their manager Chris Wilder’s former club continued their climb towards the top half of the table and also lifted them to within eight points of the top six with 16 games to play.
Portsmouth against Ipswich was postponed owing to a waterlogged pitch.
