Warnock backing Watford to secure promotion
NEIL WARNOCK tipped Watford to join Norwich City in the Premier League next season after watching his Middlesbrough side claim a point at the Riverside Stadium.
The Hornets, who led courtesy of Ismaila Sarr’s controversial 32nd-minute opener, remain second and well clear of Brentford and Swansea below them despite failing to chalk up a seventh win in a row.
Boro levelled with 12 minutes remaining when substitute Yannick Bolasie, on loan from Everton, nodded in his first goal in English football since October 2018.
Warnock, whose side have slipped out of the play-off picture of late, has celebrated promotion eight times during his career and feels Watford are well placed to finish off the job this season.
“I think these two will walk it,” he said of Watford and league leaders Norwich.
“Two of the best in the league. I don’t see many of the other teams winning five or six games, so everyone else is fighting for the playoffs really.
“Watford are absolutely flying, six games on the trot before today. We had to play as if we were going away from home, structurally we were proper.
“It might have looked negative but they’d have passed through us.
“We tried to catch them on the break as much as we could.”
Warnock was happy with Boro’s point and performance.
“Yannick was coming over to take the free-kick and I told him to get in the box and he scores. There were a lot of plusses today. We could easily have won.”
Boro midfielder Sam Morsy was forced off after half an hour following a strong challenge from Nathaniel Chalobah, who was cautioned. Warnock, who felt there was a handball by Philip
Zinckernagel in the build-up to Watford’s goal, added: “The goal did us a bit. We thought handball.
“Sam has done his medial ligament, we don’t know how bad but he is out for the season. Middlesbrough: Bettinelli, Fisher, Hall, McNair, Bola, Howson, Morsy (Coulson 30), Spence, Saville, Kebano (Bolasie 73), Watmore (Akpom 73). Unused substitutes: Johnson, Ashley Fletcher, Archer, Mendez-Laing, Coburn. Watford: Bachmann, Femenia, TroostEkong, Sierralta, Masina, Chalobah,Hughes, Zinckernagel (Gosling 77), Sarr, Pedro, Sema (Success 83). Unused substitutes: Foster, Ngakia, Cathcart, Lazaar, Gray, Kabasele. Referee: Tim Robinson (West Sussex).