Watford vs Stoke City - Sanchez Flores:Watford contract talks can wait until the summer,

Posted Saturday, March 19, 2016 by PA

Watford manager Quique Sanchez Flores has no plans to discuss an extension to his contract until the Barclays Premier League season has finished in May.

The Hornets boss took over at Vicarage Road in the summer and has guided his side to the FA Cup semi-finals at Wembley and is on the brink of securing their top-flight status for next season.

Sanchez Flores said: "I don't like to talk about contracts when we are in the most important part of the season. I am happy and really comfortable here.

"So it isn't the time to talk about the contract. We will do that at the end of May with the owner.

"The owner and the staff are always in synergy. That is the most important thing.

"I am pleased with the fans of Watford and I know how they support the team and support me."

Watford can reach the magical 40-point mark many see as the benchmark for Premier League survival on Saturday when they face Stoke at Vicarage Road but the Hornets boss is not seeing it as a milestone where they can relax.

He said: "We need to compete in every game. We need to improve every game, that is the most important thing

"We are always going to the pitch to play better than the last match.

"I do not know if we need one, two, six points but we want to add more points than possible until the end of the season.

"Stoke are strong, they have a lot of energy and they want to add more points. The season is not over, we are in two competitions, the feeling is very nice.

"The fans are enjoying the feeling of this season in the Premier League and the FA Cup."

Sanchez Flores says he will have to make last-minute decisions on "three or four" of his players, including Odion Ighalo, for the clash with the Potters.

The club's top goalscorer came off in the Hornets' 2-1 win against Arsenal in the FA Cup last weekend after suffering a knock and has been struggling with a muscular injury in training.

Miguel Britos and Joel Ekstrand are both unavailable due to hamstring injuries.

Stoke boss Mark Hughes, meanwhile, is sure Watford would be regarded as the story of the season if it were not for Leicester.

While the Foxes, relegation battlers last term, have had a remarkable campaign which could see them crowned as Barclays Premier League champions, the Hornets have also impressed.

Hughes said: "Let's hope they have been celebrating getting to a Wembley semi-final!

"I thought they played really well and deserved to go through (against Arsenal).

"They have had a great season. The story of the season is Leicester, but if that hadn't been the case, then Watford and the season they have had, given they were only promoted last year, would very much have been in people's minds in terms of the story of the season.

"So that's credit to them. They kept a few of those who got them up, but also made a lot of changes.

"That sometimes can go awry, but they've been able to cope with it and have looked very comfortable in this league for a long time."

Key to Watford's success have been front pair Ighalo and Troy Deeney, and Hughes added: "We have a game plan that incorporates things we need to do well to stop the better players in the opposition having an influence, and that will be the case against Watford.

"The two guys up top have had a big influence on what they've done.

"Ighalo has scored 14 league goals, and Deeney hasn't scored as many but has created a lot.

"They are a good pairing, who work well off each other really well, and certainly they are something we'll talk about before the game."

Stoke will be without captain Ryan Shawcross and winger Xherdan Shaqiri for Saturday's contest.

Shawcross suffered the latest in a series of back problems when the defender picked up a strain towards the end of last weekend's 2-1 loss to Southampton, a match in which Shaqiri had to come off early due to a thigh issue.

A late decision will be made on Erik Pieters, who has been nursing a calf complaint, but fellow full-back Phil Bardsley, out recently with a similar problem, should be able to return.

The chance of midfielder Charlie Adam making his first-team comeback is unclear, with an under-21s run-out having left him with some groin soreness.