Watford's Troy Deeney dreams of ending Man City's Quadruple hopes
Watford achieved mission improbable on Sunday to win an FA Cup semi-final that had looked lost, but their next Wembley task looks more like mission impossible when they have to halt an apparently unstoppable Manchester City in the final.
Yet after coming from two goals down to oust Wolverhampton Wanderers 3-2, Troy Deeney, the striker who epitomises Watford's never-say-die quality, was quick to offer a defiant message to the Quadruple-chasing English champions.
Despite English bookmakers being quick to install Watford as 7-1 long shots in a two-horse race - the Hornets lost twice to City in this season's English Premier League - Deeney, the club's 30-year-old stalwart, warned: "We're going to show we can beat them."
After his major part in Watford's unlikely comeback from 2-0 down with 11 minutes left which saw them prevail after extra-time, Deeney sounded like a man who now feels anything is possible with his "special" team.
"We know Man City are a real formidable team, one of the best in Europe, but it's a one-off game," he told BT Sport.
"We're coming in with belief, we're not naive enough to think it's going to be easy but we know this hard work can take us a long way."
Wolves manager Nuno Espirito Santo, whose side beat Manchester United in the last round, described "a moment of real pain and disappointment".
"The feeling that we had is that we had it and it got away from us," he said.
"We have to realise that in the last minutes of the game, we should have managed better."
Watford showed more hunger than Wolves in the latter stages, which Deeney attributes to "something special" and Deulofeu's "bit of magic".
Match-winning substitute Deulofeu, who came on in the 66th minute, scored two goals which sandwiched a penalty converted by Deeney.
The Spaniard has never quite fulfilled his evident talent, which spells danger for City, as their manager Pep Guardiola, Deulofeu's old boss at Barcelona, will know. - REUTERS
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