Watford boss Quique Flores hoping to get season up and running against Southampton

Quique Flores is hoping Southampton's involvement in the Europa League will help his side on Sunday

QUIQUE FLORES aims to use the Europa League factor to get Watford's season up and running.

 

Flores has fond memories of the much-maligned competition after winning the trophy with Atletico Madrid in 2010, but history has shown clubs such as Tottenham, Swansea and Everton see their domestic form fall away due to their involvement - and tomorrow's visitors Southampton, who played out a 1-1 draw with Midtjylland on Thursday, will fear joining them.

Flores, who guided Atletico to victory over Roy Hodgson's Fulham, said: "I have a happy experience of the competition but it was a little bit different because we were not good in the domestic league and we focused on the Europa League.

 

"It's very difficult for teams to be focused on two different competitions when they play in both those competitions in a week. For English teams it's different because they use a lot of energy in every single match. Recovery between matches is not easy. Sometimes when you have to play against a hard team, recovery is not the same."

Southampton manager Ronald Koeman is looking for his first win of the season after opening the campaign with a 2-2 draw against Newcastle, before losing 3-0 to Everton last Saturday. And on Thursday night they were held to a 1-1 draw in the opening leg of the Europa League play-off against FC Midtjylland.

"Of course after the defeat against Everton we need a win. We know that," said Koeman. "A win gives confidence to the players. Sometimes you don't want to put too much pressure on winning but the best is to learn about mistakes."