Championship: Watford hunting down Tigers after win

Gianfranco Zola has guided Watford to within a whisker of the PL

After a vital away win at automatic promotion rivals Hull, the Premier League beckons once more for Watford, writes Christian Crowther...

Make no bones about it, Watford's win at the KC Stadium on Tuesday night was colossal in the race to reach the Premier League.

Troy Deeney's solitary strike proved the slender difference on the night, though the impact of that goal is far greater reaching.

At this stage of the season, it's all about seizing the momentum and, after a two-game losing blip, Watford now look to be catching the prevailing Premier League wind in their sails again at just the right moment.

Tuesday's victory closed the gap on Steve Bruce's Tigers to just one point in second with six games left to play and, with Hull unable to string together successive league wins from their last seven, Gianfranco Zola's side have taken a big psychological scalp.

However, with their one-point advantage, Hull are still just ahead of Watford in the market for a top-two finish currently priced at 1.715/7 and 2.26/5 respectively.

Whatever happens between these rivals, it looks to be a straight out duel for second now, as the packed Easter fixture list has proved pivotal for the other potential contenders.

None of the teams directly below Watford in third down to Leicester in seventh have picked up maximum points from their last two fixtures.  

One team who sustained a massive setback to their automatic hopes was Crystal Palace over the bank holiday break.

Following on from a 3-0 thumping at rivals Brighton, the Eagles failed to pick up a single point from their two Easter matches and worse still were thumped 4-0 at Selhurst Park by Birmingham.

Given their woeful form, Ian Holloway's men are lucky to be hanging on to fourth spot by three points, courtesy of successive draws for Brighton and Nottingham Forest. 

Leicester's malaise only deepened as well, with the Foxes extending their winless streak to seven games as they succumbed to a third successive defeat at Barnsley on Monday.

Now outside the play-off places for the first time since early October, Nigel Pearson's side look increasing outsiders for promotion at 7.87/1 with six games left.