SLICKARAGE ROAD

Zinckernagel credits Hornets’ pristine playing surface for making it so turf on visiting teams

Masina

1 SMOOTH operator Philip Zinckernagel claims Watford’s snooker-table pitch is worth extra points in the promotion race.

While it is squeaky bum time in the cubicle for their rivals on the run-in, the Hornets are playing at the Crucible.

And winger Zinckernagel says Watford are in the right frame of mind to complete their charge for automatic promotion after a hard-fought sixth win in seven games.

Bang on cue, Xisco

WAT A STRIKE Adam Masina hits the first-half winner for the Hornets

Munoz’s men are stringing wins together and building momentum at the right time.

And after Adam Masina’s winner against Nottingham Forest both managers praised groundsman Scott Tingley’s pristine surface.

Zinckernagel (below), who had 19 goals and 24 assists in 28 games as Bodo/Glimt won the Norwegian title last year, said: “The boys have a strong mentality and we all believe in it, but it’s a bit different to last season.

“Everything went our way, we scored five goals every week and we almost destroyed the league, but the competition here is much higher than in Norway.

“You get the variety of pitches – at home, the surface is perfect and it’s always nice to play on it, but at other places, like Millwall and Blackburn, it’s been very difficult. The staff here have done a great job to keep it so good. If you made every pitch like this, we’d probably win more games.”

Watford have earned 44 of their 66 points on Tingley’s luxurious shagpile – unsurprisingly, they have the best home record in the League.

But Forest skipper Joe Worrall, who was unimpressed with the Hornets’ display, turned his fire on the lack of goals – 28 in 35 games – which has left their season drifting.

He said: “It’s frustrating – we need to do more at the top end of the pitch.

“We had eight corners and not a lot of first contacts on them. As solid as we’ve been over the last month or two, we can’t keep relying on clean sheets – we need to score some goals.

“If you look at the amount we’ve scored over the season, it’s not enough. Watford went into the automatic promotion places with this win, but I didn’t think too much of them. They didn’t play great and we couldn’t capitalise on it.” WATFORD: Bachmann 6, Femenia 7, Troost-Ekong 7, Sierralta 7, Masina 8, Zinckernagel 6 (Hungbo 80, 5), Hughes 7, Joao Pedro 7 (Success, 88), Sarr 7, Gray 6 (Sanchez 66, 7), Sema 6 FOREST: Samba 6, Christie 7, Figueiredo 6, Worrall 7, Bong 6 (Blackett 81), Yates 5 (Cafu 57, 6), Garner 6, Freeman 5 (Lolley 57, 6), Krovinovic 5 (Taylor 81), Knockaert 6, Murray 5