Watford one point closer to safety – Flores

Watford head coach Quique Sanchez Flores was satisfied to move another step closer towards Premier League safety with a 0-0 draw against AFC Bournemouth.

The former Atletico Madrid boss believes a share of the spoils was a fair outcome from a competitive contest at Vicarage Road, which saw Odion Ighalo miss two good chances for the hosts, while Heurelho Gomes saved well from Harry Arter and Max Gradel at the other end.

Watford sit 10th in the table after the match, three points adrift of Flores’ target of 40 which is seen as enough to ensure teams are safe from relegation.

He said: “I think the result is fair – it was an even game. I am not exactly disappointed with the result.

“We played against a good, organised team. We could feel very quickly that this was a team who have been working together for a long time. 

“Now we have 37 points, we are happy and under control and excited for the next match against Manchester United.

“We are on the way, but at the moment we are not safe. The feeling of the squad, the club and the players in training is like we are on a good way. We are not in a hurry to add these points, if it is early – perfect – but we are sure that we have the capacity to think it is coming soon.”

Flores also praised the impressive performance of goalkeeper Gomes, who has started all of Watford’s 27 Premier League games this season.

He added: “Heurelho repeated the same performance of the whole season. We are very happy with him. 

“I think we have created a very good defensive system around Heurelho but he always looks really well. It was the same here, he saved two or three chances for Bournemouth in the second half and also the Bournemouth goalkeeper [Artur Boruc] had two very good saves. 

“I think this match was even, we created chances, they created chances. But there was a lot of pressure, they were always reducing the lines, there was a fierce pace and it was difficult for both teams to play in attack.”