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Watford boss Xisco Munoz urges squad to turn Premier League dream into a reality with victory over Millwall

 (Getty Images)
(Getty Images)

Xisco Munoz has told his Watford squad to turn their Premier League dream into a reality this weekend.

The Hornets are within touching distance of a return to the top flight and can secure promotion by beating Millwall at home on Saturday.

A win will ensure they gain automatic promotion from the Championship, without having to worry about other results going their way.

Watford currently sit second in the table, eight points ahead of Bournemouth in third and nine ahead of Swansea in fourth, with three games to play.

“It is important for everyone, not only for me,” said Xisco, when asked about the prospect of gaining promotion. “I think we have a very good group in the training ground that are working in the same way, with the same passion.

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“I think everyone has the same dream. It is our dream, it is our objective. Four months before we started this operation and now is the moment to all give our best, because with the next game we can take an important step.”

The Watford job is only Xisco’s second in management, with the 40-year-old previously enjoying a short stint at Georgian side Dinamo Tbilisi last year, where he won the league.

Before that, the Spaniard enjoyed a fine playing career, winning La Liga and the UEFA Cup while playing for Valencia.

Now he is eyeing taking Watford up to the Premier League and he has admitted the Championship has proved a difficult division to navigate.

“La Liga in Spain has very good players and sometimes in the games you can have more control,” said Xisco. “The Championship is very difficult to have control of the game, kill the game or save the game, because they (other teams) have different options.

“It is impossible sometimes, because maybe there are 15 minutes [left] and they put two, three strikers [on], two metres [tall] and after you can’t stop like this because maybe you lose possession of the ball or something like this.

“Everyone is competitive because until the last second they try to give everything and their maximum for the team. I enjoy it a lot because it is incredible. You can never relax because maybe you are winning 2-0 and the game changes on a set-piece or something like this. I have a big respect for the Championship.”

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