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JAVI GRACIA has urged his Watford players to ignore the return of former manager Brendan Rodgers – just as they did with Marco Silva.
Rodgers, who cut his managerial teeth with the Hornets 10 years ago, takes charge of Leicester for the first time tomorrow at Vicarage Road.
He is still an unpopular figure among some Watford fans, having walked out after just six months to join Reading.
But Gracia wants his team to stay focused as they attempt to repeat their recent win over Everton – managed by Silva, another ex-Watford boss who left in controversial circumstances.
Gracia said: “I don’t know what happened with different coaches who were here before. I respect Brendan, I respect Marco a lot as well.
“I’m going to do all I can to win the game. The most important thing is to be concentrating on ourselves.”
Gracia has never gone head to head with Rodgers, who quit Celtic to take over from Claude Puel this week.
But the Spanish coach does not expect the new Foxes boss to make drastic changes.
He added: “Because there’s a new manager, on this occasion we don’t have the same information about the other team.
“But we know the players they have and I don’t think they are going to change many things.
“I know all about the titles at Celtic and I’ve seen Celtic many times – I know more or less the way they can play.”
Watford dropped to eighth in the Premier League after their defeat at Liverpool in midweek.
But Gracia has no concerns about his players failing to make the grade, saying pre-match preparations are like studying for exams.
“It’s like when you’re a kid, you study and study and think you are prepared enough for the exam,” he said.
“The most important thing is not the result, it’s all the things you do to prepare for the game.
“For the future, I’m sure if we have the same behaviour when we win and when we lose, we’ll grow up as a team.”