GRACIA: I BEAT BARCA, I’LL CRACK PREM

NEW Watford boss Javi Gracia will revel in holding the underdog tag against Chelsea tomorrow.

Gracia, whose CV includes spells in Spain, Russia and Greece, has built a reputation for getting his teams punching above their weight.

He dragged little Malaga to successive top-10 finishes in La Liga on a shoestring – even beating Lionel Messi and Barcelona at the Nou Camp.

Gracia, 47, said: “I had very good players then, and now I have very good players too.

“The only thing we need is to play well and we’ll be able to gain confidence and get good results against these teams too.

“I see it every weekend in England – teams like Bournemouth who can win at Chelsea. Everybody must believe you can win. I always want to win. That doesn’t depend on the club we play against.”

Watford’s season unravelled under gung-ho former manager Marco Silva, after losing 4-2 at Chelsea back in October.

Gracia looks determined to embrace a more defensive style, and added: “I know the clean sheet is good value, because for a team like us, we don’t know how many goals we will be able to score.”