‘Lost our heads’: Key Watford duo to miss Portsmouth trip after Burnley controversy
Watford will be without two key figures for their trip to Pompey on Monday.
Moussa Sissoko and Edo Kayembe will both miss the Hornets’ visit to Fratton Park after the the pair were both sent off during their 2-1 defeat to Burnley on Good Friday.
And that has sparked criticism from boss Tom Cleverley, who admitted his his players for lost their heads during the feisty encounter against the Clarets.
Indeed, captain Sissoko was the first to be dismissed after a wild turn of events saw the midfielder shown his second yellow card less than two minutes after picking up his first booking.
After being cautioned for dissent following Burnley’s second goal, the 35-year-old was then given his marching orders after dragging down Zian Flemming from the resulting kick-off on the hour mark.
It didn’t stop there for the Hornets either when Kayembe was then sent off for an elbow to the face on Marcus Edwards nine-minutes later, despite already being on a yellow card.
And although Watford fans took aim at referee Matt Donohue for the two red cards, Cleverley has since put the blame solely on his players. This means the pair will sit out Monday’s trip to the south coast as they serve their one-game bans.
He said: ‘The game got a little bit out of hand. We've got to look at ourselves for that. We were certainly the bull and they were the matador in the second-half. We need to be more streetwise for that. It's a word I've used quite a lot recently.
‘I didn't think it would be Moussa and Edo making those mistakes. Moussa’s been a little bit provoked and he's took the bait. It's disappointing.
‘I think we've got to look at ourselves as a team. We certainly lost our heads a little bit and we have to learn from that.
‘I feel like, as a player myself, I've only got two red cards in my career and I seemed to learn from them a lot on the impact it can have on the team. For sure, we can look at ourselves on why we ended up with nine men and we can't be pointing too many fingers at the referee today.’
Kwadwo Baah also to miss the trip to Fratton Park
It’s not just Sissoko and Kayembe who will be absent for the trip to Fratton Park on Easter Monday. Kwadwo Baah is also be sidelined as he continues his recovery from a thigh injury.
The 22-year-old will miss his much-anticipated reunion with the Blues after he grabbed the headlines in the reverse fixture on Boxing Day.
After the Hornets netted a late winner in stoppage time at Vicarage Road, the forward headed straight over to the packed-out away end after the whistle - where he proceeded to do the famous ‘take the L’ dance from the video game Fortnite.
His celebration sparked plenty of anger and frustrations from the 2,250 travelling faithful as well as John Mousinho and his players. This saw Baah sent off after the full-time whistle having already been booked earlier in the game for a challenge on Matt Ritchie.
Baah has missed the Hornet’s past three games after being withdrawn against Bristol City with thigh issue.