My job is to make Watford players believe, says manager Pearson

Watford need organisation and belief to get out of the Premier League relegation zone, according to their new manager Nigel Pearson.

The former Leicester City boss is Watford’s third manager this season after Quique Sanchez Flores, who was sacked last week, and Javi Gracia.

Watford sit at the bottom of the standings having won only one match, but ended a three-game losing streak with a draw against Crystal Palace on Sunday, and are now six points away from the safety zone.

“You must have heard it many times about people talking about sides that are possibly too good to be in a relegation dogfight,” Pearson, who has the job until the end of the season, said in an interview on the club’s YouTube channel.

“We are where we are because we’ve not been able to produce the types of performances that have earned us enough points so far.

“So my job is to try and rectify that or help the players get to a level of organisation and belief back into them, that we are capable of competing.”

Pearson faces a stern test in his first game in charge at unbeaten league leaders Liverpool on Saturday, followed by a home match against a resurgent Manchester United.

The 56-year-old is the first English Watford manager since the Pozzo family took ownership of the club in 2012.

“We’ve got to change our fortunes pretty quickly,” Pearson said. “We’ll have to find a good run of results at some point as well, but there has to be a collective, not just a collective spirit... but we have to show a positive intent in games.

“Just the very situation that we are in means that we’ve got to have a very strong mental approach to receiving setbacks as well.”