Watford

Watford head coach Ed Still has spoken to BBC Three Counties Radio about fans booing after the 2-0 defeat at Oxford United.

"I can understand it completely," he said. "It's the worst – our fans have travelled so well and given us such support this season.

"To send them home that way is horrible. They've seen a team that hasn't matched the opposition in terms of aggression and physical impact. That makes us all angry.

"It's not for being caught by surprise; we know what Oxford are, how windy it is, how the pitch is and how difficult it is, but you've got to deal with it. End of story.

"It is far too much of a familiar story from what's gone on in previous seasons, as well. To be repeating that trend now is terrible."

Image source, Getty Images

The EFL has announced the fixtures for the 2026-27 season will be published at midday on Thursday, 25 June.

The first-round draws for the Carabao Cup and the Vertu Trophy will be made on the same day.

The new season will kick off on the weekend of August 7-9 with the first round of the Carabao Cup, and the opening fixtures in the Championship, League One and League Two will follow a week later on 14-16 August.

The first round of the Vertu Trophy will be played in the week commencing 21 September.

Watford boss Ed Still has revealed midfielder Edo Kayembe missed their Easter matches against QPR and Charlton because of international commitments after helping DR Congo qualify for the World Cup finals.

The Leopards beat Jamaica 1-0 in their play-off in Guadalajara 10 days ago to reach this summer's tournament in the USA, Canada and Mexico, but Kayembe then failed to return to England in time for Watford's matches on Good Friday and Easter Monday.

"He's back from all the celebrations with DR Congo and their World Cup qualification so that's really good for the team," Ed Still told BBC Three Counties Radio.

"There were governmental obligations from their side and all the players selected for the last play-off game were in the same situation. West Ham had the same issue with (Aaron) Wan-Bissaka and many clubs in France and Belgium had the same issue.

"On the one hand we're really happy for him and proud that he'll be at the World Cup in a couple of months, but it was disappointing not to have him with us for the QPR or Charlton games."

Still has also revealed defender James Abankwah is available for selection for Saturday's Championship match at Oxford (15:00 BST) and midfielder Othmane Maamma is back in training after almost two months out with a thigh injury.

Watford are currrently 10th in the Championship table, nine points adrift of the top six with five matches remaining.

Listen to more Watford interviews and content on BBC Sounds.

Oxford United will seek an exit from the bottom three as they welcome Watford on Saturday (15:00 BST).

The U's are on a four-match winless streak but are only one point below 21st-placed Portsmouth and could leapfrog both Leicester City and Pompey to reach safety should they pick up a better result.

They face a Hornets side on a three-match winless run of their own, with a nine point-gap to the play-offs.

• Oxford have won just three of their last 26 league games against Watford (D11 L12), though one of those was in this exact fixture last season (1-0).

• Watford lost this exact fixture 1-0 last season, having been unbeaten in their previous 12 league visits to Oxford between 1972 and 1999 (W4 D8).

• Oxford have the lowest average possession (39.7%), have completed the fewest passes (8,870), had the fewest sequences of 10 or more passes in open play (128), average the fewest passes per sequence (2.3) and have the shortest sequence time (5.6 seconds) in the Championship this season.

• Since Ed Still's first game in charge of Watford on Valentine's Day, only Middlesbrough (211) and Portsmouth (165) have had more shots in the Championship than the Hornets (151), though 44% of them have come from outside the box (67), the third-highest ratio of any side in that time.

• Since the start of February, only Hayden Hackney (28) has created more chances in the Championship than Watford's Giorgi Chakvetadze (25). He created nine open play chances last time out against Charlton, only the third player on record (2013-14 onwards) to do so in a Championship game: the others are Pablo Hernández for Leeds vs Bolton in February 2019 (10) and Finn Azaz for Plymouth vs Watford in January 2024 (9).

Image source, Shutterstock

Watford are mourning the death of promotion-winning defender Brian Garvey who has passed away at the age of 88.

He was part of the Hornets side which won the Third Division title in the 1968-69 season and made 201 appearances, scoring two goals, in a five-year stay at Vicarage Road between 1965 and 1970.

Garvey started out at Hull City before joining Watford and finished his professional career at Colchester United where he helped the Essex club win the Watney Cup and famously beat Leeds United in the FA Cup in 1971.

"We were saddened to learn of the passing of our former defender Brian Garvey," Watford said in a post on X., external

"Our thoughts are with his family and friends."

Image source, Getty Images

Watford boss Ed Still said poor defending by his injury-hit side was the reason for the 2-1 defeat against QPR at Loftus Road.

The Hornets were outplayed for large spells and only a late strike by Imran Louza brought any hope of salvaging a point.

"We've given ourselves too much to do in the last part of the game," Still told BBC Three Counties Radio.

"We've not defended the box well enough and that's one of the things we have done really well and been consistent with.

"But we've not done it today for both goals - and another chance they had. We showed a lack of quality.

"Clearly when you have to shuffle your back four game-to-game it weakens your team. That is one of the big explaining factors as to why we have struggled to defend the box."

Image source, Getty Images

Championship clubs spent just over £69.5m on agents fees over the past 12 months according to figures released by the Football Association,, external an increase of £6m on the previous year.

The figures cover the period from February 2025 with Ipswich Town the top spenders, paying £11.7m having spent the first three months of the accounting period in the Premier League.

Southampton (£8.3m) and Leicester (£5.8m), who were relegated alongside Ipswich are the second and third-highest payers on the list.

Troubled Sheffield Wednesday were the most frugal when dealing with agents, spending £534,559.

Wrexham come in sixth on the list with an outlay of £3.6m while current Championship leaders Coventry spent just short of £1.5m.

Championship agents' fee spending, external

• Ipswich - £11,738,920

• Southampton - £8,381,358

• Leicester City - £5,866,587

• Sheffield United - £5,005,498

• Norwich - £4,020,206

• Wrexham - £3,660,584

• Swansea - £3,088,645

• Middlesbrough - £2,900,314

• Bristol City - £2,774,990

• Hull City - £2,450,431

• Stoke City - £2,088,886

• Birmingham City - £1,996,502

• Millwall - £1,982,348

• Preston North End - £1,831,233

• QPR - £1,829,036

• Watford - £1,612,833

• Coventry - £1,497,990

• Derby - £1,409,507

• West Brom - £1,346,030

• Oxford - £1,235,536

• Charlton - £904,698

• Portsmouth - £831,818

• Blackburn - £676,980

• Sheffield Wednesday - £534,559

Image source, Shutterstock

Watford expect to have full-back Jeremy Petris back for Friday's trip to Queens Park Rangers after missing three games with a dislocated shoulder.

Petris is still experiencing discomfort following the injury but head coach Ed Still believes that will not stop him being available at Loftus Road.

"He's back early," Still told the club website., external

"He should have been back at the end of next week but he has realised how many injured players there are and has said that he can play through the pain and manage it, as it's only a dislocated shoulder – so it's just for him to manage the pain."

Petris' likely return is good news for the Hornets with left-back Marc Bola rated a "big doubt" by Still.

"During last week's training he started to feel fatigue in the hip area, so there's a big question mark about him which puts a little bit of extra pressure on the full-back positions," he added.

Watford will assess James Abankwah, who suffered a dead leg while on duty with the Republic of Ireland, but Saba Goglichidze should also return after missing the last game against Leicester City.

Still's side are ninth on the Championship, seven points outside the top six with seven games remaining.

Image source, PA Media

Watford forward Nestory Irankunda scored twice as Australia beat Curacao 5-1 in their friendly in Melbourne on Tuesday.

The 20-year-old was introduced as a 67th-minute substitute by Socceroos boss Tony Popovic as the home side recovered from conceding an equaliser early in the second-half to run out comfortable winners.

Irankunda scored his double in the space of four minutes having also featured as a substitute in Australia's 1-0 win over Cameroon in Sydney last Friday.

He is set to be part of the Australia World Cup squad for this summer's tournament in the USA, Canada and Mexico and will now return to England for Watford's trip to QPR in the Championship on Friday (15:00 BST).

Watford boss Ed Still spoke to BBC Three Counties Radio after Saturday's goalless draw with Leicester City.

"I was trying to put my finger on it, what the emotions are, and frustrating is probably the word," he said.

"It's a funny feeling, because on one hand to have seen how the players got out there on the pitch, credit to them. The commitment and mental strength to get over the pain for a lot of them, credit to them.

"We will take the point, because on another day you could lose that game.

"I was convinced we could have that moment in the second half where we could force a winner, and then you see that it didn't quite fall for us.

"It was frustrating because you feel a little bit powerless in moments where you know the squad is what it is and the boys are pushing through pain."

Image source, Shutterstock

Watford manager Ed Still wants his team's counter attacks to strike fear into opponents as they continue to push for a Championship play-off spot.

The former Anderlecht coach, who took over the Hornets on 9 February, believes his squad have the tools to do damage to opponents with fast transitions.

Still called on his players to show it with the first back-to-back wins of his tenure when they host relegation-threatened Leicester City on Saturday.

"We want it that teams fear our counter attacks and transitions," Still told BBC Three Counties Radio. "We were excellent on Tuesday [against Wrexham].

"I had seen prior to coming in. The analysis I had made clear the counter-attacking qualities of the squad [but] I had got the feeling that they weren't quite lethal enough.

"We have put a big emphasis on converting those chances since and we're improving on it.

"We want to be a threat on the ball if teams do sit off us a little bit, that we have that threat dominating possession as well."

Watford beat Wrexham 3-1 on Tuesday and they go into Saturday's match in ninth spot, five points off sixth place with eight games to go.

"We want a repeat of that performance," said Still. "We are going to go full on and all in to try to do a repeat of the Wrexham game.

"The whole squad and the staff realise what stage of the season we are at but also that we haven't yet managed to put together a couple of wins on the bounce.

"We are very much intent on doing so [against Leicester]."

Jobi McAnuff believes just five teams are fighting it out for two Championship play-off spots.

In the latest edition of the BBC's 72+ EFL podcast, Aaron Paul and McAnuff were joined by AFC Wimbledon boss Johnnie Jackson discuss the top stories from the EFL.

Watford's 3-1 win over Wrexham on Tuesday opened the door for Southampton to take over the Welsh side's top-six spot - and they did so, winning 1-0 against Norwich on Wednesday.

Watford are ninth, five points behind the Saints with eight games to go, while Birmingham are a further two points behind in 10th.

McAnuff said: "Watford are still in the mix. I feel like seven points feels a bit too big at this stage of the season. Birmingham feels a little far away.

"Southampton are the ones I believed would come through and get a play-off place.

"A couple of weeks ago I'd have said there's only one place up for grabs (sixth). That's changed now, (fifth-placed) Hull have been really inconsistent so they have been brought into it a lot more.

"You've got Easter coming up, six points can go in a week. You have a quick turnaround. If you can put a run of games together you can really jump up four or five places in the space of a few days. Anyone down to Watford (can make it), Birmingham feels a little too far away at this stage."

Leicester City will seek an escape from the bottom three when they visit promotion-chasing Watford on Saturday (15:00 GMT).

The Foxes took the lead against Queens Park Rangers on the weekend but ultimately suffered a 3-1 defeat to leave them two points adrift of safety.

But the Hornets will be a tough customer, hunting down a place in the play-offs against stiff competition and hot off a big win against fellow promotion-hopefuls Wrexham.

• Watford will be looking to do the league double over Leicester for the first time since 2012-13, after winning 2-1 in this season's reverse fixture on Boxing Day.

• Leicester have won their last two away league games against Watford (5-1 in 2022 and 2-1 in 2024), and have never previously won three in succession away to the Hornets.

• Watford have only won one of their last seven Saturday matches in the Championship (D2 L4), although that was in their most recent one at Vicarage Road (2-0 v Derby last month).

• Leicester are winless in their last nine away league games (D5 L4); they last went 10 in a row without a win in the Championship between December 2004 and October 2005 (18).

• Midfielder Jordan James is now Leicester's top scorer in the Championship this season (10), while only Abdul Fatawu (16) has more goal involvements for the Foxes than the Welshman (14).