Bilic praises Sema for his two goals in Watford win
Slaven Bilic praised Ken Sema for his two-goal contribution in Watford's 3-2 victory over West Brom which – at least temporarily – propelled the Hornets back into the Championship play-off positions.
Swede Sema scored twice, including a heavily-deflected winner that came off Albion defender Erik Pieters, with Ismaila Sarr supplying their other goal.
Bilic said: "Ken is a very good player and a top player. He is a dream for any manager, he can cover four or five positions.
"We want him on the wing because it is not coincidence that we were struggling to score goals when he was out for two months. You want your key players on the pitch.
"We created a lot of chances against a very good team so hopefully we will stay clear of injuries."
Albion improved dramatically in the second half and twice drew level, first through Conor Townsend and then Jed Wallace.
Wallace appeared offside for his goal, but luck deserted Carlos Corberan's side when Pieters' deflection foxed goalkeeper Josh Griffiths in the 78th minute.
Bilic said: "It's nice when it ends like this, when you show character and quality to come back. When it was 1-0 it was more likely for us to score the second one, not them equalise. We had so many spaces in the first half, especially on the left side. The only thing that wasn't good in the first half was the result - we should have been 2-0 up.
"In the second half they had an extra man in midfield and we adjusted to it and showed great character, determination and quality - we deserved to win this game."
The win lifted Watford up to fifth ahead of Tuesday night’s Championship fixtures and left Albion, who had surged up the table after Corberan succeeded Steve Bruce in October, in 10th.
It was also Bilic's 200th game as a manager in English football and his first against Albion since they sacked him in 2020, months after he had led them to promotion to the Premier League.
Bilic said: "West Brom were extremely underachieving at the start of the season and were unlucky. Carlos brought them back, which is not easy in such a short time."