‘Earn The Right’ – Rowett’s Watford Preview

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‘Earn The Right’ – Rowett’s Watford Preview

We will have to work incredibly hard and to the game plan to emerge from Watford with three Sky Bet Championship points, according to Manager Gary Rowett.

2026-03-21T09:00+00:00

by Sam Stevens

Published

21 Mar, 2026

from LCFC Training Ground

‘Earn The Right’ – Rowett’s Watford Preview

We will have to work incredibly hard and to the game plan to emerge from Watford with three Sky Bet Championship points, according to Manager Gary Rowett.

Sam Stevens

2026-03-21T09:00+00:00

‘Earn The Right’ – Rowett’s Watford Preview

We will have to work incredibly hard and to the game plan to emerge from Watford with three Sky Bet Championship points, according to Manager Gary Rowett.

Sam Stevens

2026-03-21T09:00+00:00

‘Earn The Right’ – Rowett’s Watford Preview

We will have to work incredibly hard and to the game plan to emerge from Watford with three Sky Bet Championship points, according to Manager Gary Rowett.

Sam Stevens

2026-03-21T09:00+00:00

‘Earn The Right’ – Rowett’s Watford Preview

We will have to work incredibly hard and to the game plan to emerge from Watford with three Sky Bet Championship points, according to Manager Gary Rowett.

Sam Stevens

2026-03-21T09:00+00:00

Since Rowett’s Leicester City appointment, we’ve drawn three away games – ahead of this fourth, a trip to Vicarage Road – while winning one and losing two at home.

Last weekend’s reverse to Queens Park Rangers at King Power Stadium was frustrating, even more so as we were looking to build momentum on the back of a morale-boosting victory over Bristol City earlier in the week.

Now back in the Championship’s bottom three, but knowing a win could lift us back out again, we head to Hertfordshire looking to regain that positive momentum. Rowett was speaking to the press on Thursday, outlining his approach to collective responsibility, his thoughts on Watford, and the need for points.

‘We need to keep improving’

Rowett is keen to stress that the squad is ‘equally responsible’ for results, insisting that any defensive or attacking misgivings are owned by the team, not solely the people who play in those positions. By working together as one, he is certain we can make the improvements required to deliver better performances and, in turn, more consistent results.

“It’s over the pitch,” he told reporters. “When I first came in, the first thing I said to the players was we need to work as a team. When we’re defending, we all defend, we’re all active in that phase, and when we attack, we all attack.

“If we win a game, we all benefit from that, if we lose a game, we’re all equally responsible. I don’t think you can ever just look at something and blame individuals. We’re part of a team, we’re part of a dynamic.

“We haven’t scored enough goals with the quality we’ve got in the building. But I think we’ve got into some very good areas.

“We need to keep improving those moments, keep being consistent with the message. Like I’ve said before, you can’t just wave a magic wand and suddenly win every game. It has to be down to the hard work and the consistency.

“I do believe we are close to being a very good team. It’s just those little moments are costing us right now, which is making us all feel a little sore after games. I would say everyone has to contribute to every performance, not just the defenders.”

‘We have to be at our best’

We tackle a Watford side, coached by Edward Still, who were buoyed by a 3-1 success over Wrexham AFC last time out. While Rowett was full of praise for the Hornets, he remains focused on what we can do to hurt them on Saturday.

“I’ve been impressed with them in games,” he outlined. “They’re another team that are pushing for the play-offs. They’ve got a new manager in.

“Of course, Watford have had a tendency to chance managers quite a lot during seasons, but I think that’s kind of accepted and not unusual for them. They still play with similar patterns and, obviously, similar individuals.

“I think Ed’s done a really good job. I thought they were good the other night against Wrexham. It’s no different. We’ll have to be at our best.

“We’ll always respect our opponent, but we concentrate on what we need to do, how we need to perform. We’ve shown in the three away games so far that we can more than match any team in this division.

“Maybe being away from home at the moment allows us to play with perhaps a little more freedom, just because we haven’t won at home or we haven’t won enough at home.

“That’s just a natural thing, it’s nothing to do with anyone. We’re looking forward to the game.”

‘Earn the right’

With an international break looming, Rowett knows it’ll be a much-needed boost if we can return to Leicester with three points. The only way to do so, he says, is to dedicate ourselves to the game plan and show the hunger necessary.

“It’s always important, the game before the international break,” he added. “It think it’s because you don’t tend to see the players for a while if you’ve got a lot of internationals.

“Sometimes you’re not coming back together until the Wednesday or Thursday, which tends to be a bit of a problem, particularly when you’re playing on the Friday (as we will do at home vs. Preston North End after the break).

“It might be that three or four players might not be available in those games, depending on their travel and the games they’ve got.

“It’s important that we go away feeling good about where we are or at least what we’ve achieved there.

“I’ve said it before, I don’t think until the game is a must-win, or a must-not-lose, whatever that terminology is, until we get to that point, every game is just as important as the other.

“I’ve said that all the way along. Yes, of course, we want to go into the international break feeling positive. But there’s another team that also want to do exactly the same.

“We have to earn the right to do it, we have to work incredibly hard to do it, we have to have the hunger to go and want to do it, and then we have to carry out our game plan as well as we can – which I believe we’re more than capable of doing.”

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