Watford manager’s target outlines difficulties of teams chasing Sheffield United and Burnley in promotion race

The difficulty for any Championship side hoping to chase down frontrunners Burnley and Sheffield United in the race for promotion to the Premier League has been outlined by Watford boss Slaven Bilic, who admits his side may have to win every game between now and the end of the season to catch the leading pair.
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Burnley and the Blades moved 18 and 13 points clear respectively of third-placed Watford after victories over the weekend, while the Hornets were held at home by Rotherham United on a weekend when promotion hopefuls West Brom, Middlesbrough and Blackburn Rovers all dropped points as well.

Liam Rosenior, the Hull City manager, described coming up against the Blades on Friday night as “a real pleasure” after United’s 1-0 victory, adding that, in his view, no-one will catch Burnley and the Blades.

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And Bilic told the BBC: “They [United and Burnley] are pulling away but there are enough games. We have to continue to fight, to play and concentrate totally on our game. We have to try to win them all if possible. Because only then are we going to have a chance to catch them, or to be in a good position at the end of the season.”

Bilic also bemoaned his group’s lack of depth with a number of key men missing through injury. “We can’t rely on kids coming on and scoring goals for us week in, week out – they wouldn’t be kids then,” Bilic added.

“At the moment we are lacking so many good players. I don’t like to moan about it but I said the same after … games that we won.”

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