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Crystal Palace coach wary of Ighalo

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Crystal Palace assistant manager, Keith Millen, has warned his players to be wary of Super Eagles and Watford striker, Odion Ighalo and his strike partner Troy Deeney when they visit Watford in a Premier League match on Saturday.

Watford have won only once in their last eight Barclays Premier League outings, failing to score in four of their previous five league matches.

Palace and Watford sit 12th and 10th in the table respectively, separated by a point, and are still in position to stage positive conclusions to the campaign.

But Millen warned his team  that Ighalo and Deeney remain a threat to the team.

“Odion Ighalo was an unknown quantity, he’s had an unbelievable season,” he said.

“Deeney is someone who has been around for a long time – we like him as a player ourselves. We know what he brings to their team. The pair do complement each other well.”

Meanwhile, Watford manager Quique Sanchez Flores was similarly worried about Palace, who beat Watford 1-0 in the reverse fixture in September thanks to Yohan Cabaye’s penalty.

“We expect a lot from Crystal Palace,” Flores said. “They played well against us at Vicarage Road. They have a very good coach and we play away, so we are looking for our best performance.

“Adebayor is a very good player – he can help Palace a lot. He is just the player they need. They have injuries to players like Bolasie and he will help them to the end of the season.

“They are now on a bad run like us but they have a very good coach, they have really good players. They are dangerous on set pieces, dangerous on the long balls – a very good team.

“For sure they will think against Watford it is a good opportunity to win. For us we think a win over Crystal Palace would keep us in the top half and make sure we are closer to the objective of staying up. I am waiting for that moment to come.”

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