Monday 27 May 2013 14:10, UK
Watford manager Gianfranco Zola hopes play-off victory over Crystal Palace will be the first step towards Europe for the ambitious Hornets.
It seemed the footballing gods were conspiring against Watford when they lost to Leeds on the final day of the season. Zola had to bring 19-year-old goalkeeper Jack Bonham off the bench after Watford's first and second choice goalkeepers - Manuel Almunia and Jonathan Bond - suffered injuries. The young stopper's gaffe allowed Leeds to score a crucial winner, plunging the Hornets in to the lottery of a play-off, but they recovered and regained some of the luck they lost on that energy-sapping day against Leeds for the play-off semi-final. Anthony Knockaert had a chance to seal Leicester's passage to the final, but Almunia saved his spot kick and Troy Deeney raced up the other end, scoring 20 seconds later to give Zola's side their most dramatic win in history. Deeney has been inundated with requests for tickets for Monday's final. "I've had requests for 96," the striker said. "I've got everybody - my nan, mum, brother, sister. I had to re-write the list because I forgot one or two, but I got (one for) everybody, so it's going to be a good day - as long as we win. "I'm still selling blood to pay them off, although a lot of people paid for their own to be fair." Deeney has endured a rollercoaster year. This time last year he was sentenced to 10 months in prison for affray following a street brawl in Birmingham. The striker has since gone on to score 20 goals and claims he is totally rehabilitated. He will give two of the tickets to guards he got to know during his time at Thorn Cross prison in Cheshire, where he spent the last part of his three-month spell behind bars. "I have got them a couple of tickets," Deeney said. "I had football conversations with them, they were big on sport. "Being up north there were Manchester United fans, Manchester City fans and Liverpool fans so me being a Birmingham fan wasn't the best - I had to talk about the Premier League all the time."