Davinson: "Now is the time to keep pushing, to keep getting the results"

Understated and modest as ever, Davinson Sanchez was delighted to play his part in kicking off 2022 in positive style at Watford – with what could be a memorable month ahead.

You just felt we needed to win a match we dominated at Vicarage Road on New Year’s Day – 74 per cent possession, 21 efforts at goal – and the Colombian centre-back was there when it mattered, heading home Heung-Min Son’s free-kick in the sixth minute of added time.

That 1-0 win maintained Antonio Conte’s unbeaten start in the Premier League as our Head Coach – now five wins and three draws in eight matches – and completed a busy festive period with wins against Palace and Watford, draws against Liverpool and Southampton and a quarter-final victory over West Ham in the Carabao Cup. It also sees us two points behind Arsenal in fourth, with two games in hand.

Our Carabao Cup journey continues at Chelsea on Wednesday evening with Antonio returning to Stamford Bridge for the first time as our Head Coach for the first leg of our semi-final. That’s followed by our first step into this season’s FA Cup against Morecambe at home on Sunday with the return against Chelsea (12 January), Arsenal in N17 (16 January) and then a trip back to Stamford Bridge in the Premier League (23 January) all on the horizon.

Reflecting on his winner, and looking ahead to January, Davinson told us: “It’s going to be a tough month, but a brilliant month to be involved in. We want to compete at this level. We’re playing big games, London derbies as well. We have the squad and everyone has to be ready to be on the pitch. As players, we all need to be ready.”

As for the win at Vicarage Road, Davinson was in no doubt that the points went to the right home – and the sense of relief from the goalscorer and the rest of the squad was palpable.

“As soon as the goal went in, as I always say, I’m always so happy to help the team and that was the perfect way to do it,” added Davinson, who has started the last eight matches in all competitions as part of Antonio’s back three.

“From the start, we went for the victory. Of course, Watford made it difficult. They closed all the doors, as they tried to be in the game all the time. But we deserved this win, we’ve worked so hard, and we got there.

“We’re happy because we’ve been working very, very well. We need to keep pushing, working in the way we’re doing, and we know we can compete with anyone.

“Now isn’t the time to stop. Now is the time to keep pushing and keep getting the results. Now is the time to continue what we’re doing, to continue to work hard. We all want to win something, and we need to do all that to get to the places we want to be.”