Watford v Palace

Vicarage Road, Friday 7.45pm

Mile Jedinak

Team news

Crystal Palace captain Mile Jedinak misses the match after suffering a broken nose and cheekbone in the recent outing against Huddersfield.

However, the Eagles are boosted by fellow midfielder Kagisho Dikgacoi's return to the squad after South Africa's exit from the African Nations Cup.

Andre Moritz (ankle), Alex Nimely (hamstring), Paddy McCarthy, Joel Ward (both groin) and OWEN GARVAN (knee) are still sidelined.

Watford defenders Joel Ekstrand (knee) and Nyron Nosworthy, who has been on international duty with with Jamaica, will be checked on.

Tommie Hoban (Achilles) could be available but midfielder Ikechi Anya (hamstring) and defender Neuton (back) are missing.

Quotes

Roy Hodgson

"I will still be alive Saturday morning whether we win, draw or lose. I'll be ready to go again. I think we're in the mix anyway with 16 games to go. I want our fans to enjoy every minute of our run-in. It's the first one I'm attempting to do here - but is certainly won't be my last.

"You've got to earn it, haven't you? Some of the stats we've produced away have merited better scores than we've got. We're still up and about the area we want to be. Having watched Watford I have to congratulate them on their new style - they look completely littered with fantastic footballers. It is a tough test. They have got a different shape.

"We'll be well-prepared. I managed to win there last year under different circumstances. What is vital to me is that we're going to go away and try and play a decent calibre of football and try and outscore them at their ground.

"Mile Jedinak saw a specialist this morning and hasn't recovered sufficiently enough yet from the anesthetic. So unfortunately that's knocked the stuffing out of me - I was ready to pick him and play him. So I'm having a rethink.

"More importantly he's going to be fine. This incident has probably affected me worse than anything I've seen in football before - that's a big statement. I'm still seething about it. I've written a few letters to different people to put it right.

"It must be difficult for Gianfranco Zola because you can only play five loans in one game. But their style of play is commendable and absolutely fantastic.

"They look like a foreign team and a total footballing team. To change it so quickly is incredible and I think Gianfranco has done a fantastic job to how they played last year. He's got the benefit of how he played and how he was brought up to play, which is to pass the ball and move.

"The way they want to pass and move to close to a Premier League team, so it's going to be really tough, they're on a great run, but I believe we can go there and hurt them."

Kevin Phillips

"I always look forward to going back to Vicarage Road and I always get a warm reception from the fans. It’s where it all started for me 20-odd years ago and I am looking forward to it. It will be a tough match, they play some exciting football and are on a good run.

"I have watched Glenn Murray a lot this season and he is a fantastic goalscorer. The manager doesn’t normally like to play with two up front, he likes to have one and one around him, but I tend to drop deep anyway. I am really looking forward to the rest of the season as I feel I can make a real contribution."

Gianfranco Zola

"I think there are many reasons to be motivated. I don’t think they will need much pushing from me. More than anything, the key tomorrow will be to focus on the things we need to do in order for us to play in games like this (televised games against promotion rivals).

"The rest is extra. The vital thing is that each player remembers what he has to do in order to make sure we compete and that we win the game.

"The players have ambitions, the fact that they will be on television will boost them even more – that’s what happened against Brighton when we played such a good game. So yes I’m hoping it will be the same and we will see what happens.

"It’s a great opportunity; as I said, there are many players who want to show how good they are and how much they have improved and I’m sure they will try very hard to impress.

"It’s another opportunity. We have done it already before when we played a vital game against Brighton and we did very well on television and we’re looking forward to doing exactly the same.

"I know it’s not going to be easy because we are playing a team who, like us, have ambitions to go up so it’s a tough game but we think we are prepared for that.

"Ian Holloway is a character but he’s a good manager above all. He certainly prepares for the game well so we will be required to play a good game to win."

Watford - league stats

Position	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	Points
4th	30	16	4	10	52

Full league table

Watford - current form

Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	For	Against
8	6	0	2	19	9

Full form table

Last five results

Date	Type	Home Team	Score	Away Team
18/08/2012	League	Crystal Palace	2 - 3	Watford
18/02/2012	League	Crystal Palace	4 - 0	Watford
15/10/2011	League	Watford	0 - 2	Crystal Palace
01/02/2011	League	Watford	1 - 1	Crystal Palace
09/11/2010	League	Crystal Palace	3 - 2	Watford

All time results

Last meeting

Palace 2-3 Watford

Saturday August 18 2012

Palace: Speroni, Ward, Martin, Moxey, Ramage, Parr (Wright, 72), Dikgacoi, Garvan, Jedinak, Zaha, Wilbraham,

Subs not used: O'Keefe, Sekajja, Parsons, De Silva, Price, Appiah

Goals: Garvan (pen 13, 29)

Watford: Almunia, Dickinson, Taylor, Doyley, Nosworthy, Eustace (Vydra, 59), Yeates, Hogg, Murray (Smith , 79), Abdi, Garner (Iwelumo, 79)

Subs not used: Forsyth, Bond, Hodson, Thompson

Goals: Taylor (22), Abdi (88), Vydra (90)

Yellow: Dickinson