Eniola Olayemi
Watford’s Nigeria international Isaac Success has been ruled out of the Hornet’s FA Cup fifth round tie against Queens Park Rangers at Loftus Road on Friday evening. The 23-year-old suffered a hamstring injury in their defeat to Tottenham Hotspur and missed their previous two games against Brighton & Hove Albion and Everton.
The attacker, who sealed their qualification to the fifth round of the competition with his late-minute strike that earn them a 2-0 victory over Newcastle United, is yet to recover from the injury picked at Wembley. Watford manager Javi Gracia also confirned that defender Kiko Femenia will also miss the tie against the Rs along with the former Granada striker. “At this moment we only have Isaac Success and Kiko Femenía injured,” Gracia said in a pre-match conference. Success has made 27 appearances this season in all competitions, scoring four goals.
Andre Gray dreams of playing in front of 90,000 fans at a Wembley showpiece, just like his Little Mix partner Leigh-Anne Pinnock has done. And his double act with Troy Deeney could be the key to making the £18 million record signing’s wish come true with Watford in this season’s FA Cup. Social media trolls reckon Gray has been a flop at Vicarage Road since his surprise switch from Burnley 18 months ago but his goals-per-start strike rate, 10 in 26 appearances, is far better than those cheap shots would suggest.
And the Hornets’ record when Deeney and Gray’s partnership is unleashed – they have won six and drawn two of the last 11 Premier League games where they have started or finished on the pitch together – could give Championship hosts Queens Park Rangers food for thought in Friday’s fifth round tie. Gray said: “Troy and I understand each other, and when we have played together as a two up-top, we have given a few teams a hard time. It was nice to hear pundits on Match of the Day pick us out early in the season as a potential source of problems for defenders.”
The striker added: “We sussed out in pre-season we might be able to unsettle defenders by going more direct, which is what happened when we played together a couple of times last season. I don’t accept my goals-to-minutes ratio is that bad. It might not always be pretty, and it might sometimes be a battle, but one thing Troy and I can hopefully guarantee is it won’t be easy for defenders.”
