Will Deeney dig come back to haunt Hornets?

Troy Deeney: Accused West Ham in September

Troy Deeney: Accused West Ham in September

Slaven Bilic could use Troy Deeney’s dig at West Ham to inspire them to gain revenge over Watford.

Hornets skipper Deeney accused the Hammers of being “disrespectful” after their meeting at the London Stadium in September.

The hosts led 2-0 after half an hour thanks to two Michail Antonio headers – the second from Dimitri Payet’s rabona cross – but Watford hit back to win 4-2.

“As a player I thought they were trying to mug us off a little bit,” Deeney told BBC Radio 5 live in September last year.

Deeney claimed West Ham’s so-called showboating fired up the Hornets, but Bilic says his side have plenty of motivation to turn the tables in late kick-off at Vicarage Road.

“Will I use Deeney’s words in my team talk? No. Well…maybe,” the Hammers boss said.

“Maybe someone else will mention it, but to be fair extra motivation can never harm you as long as it doesn’t produce a negative kind of pressure.

“I’m probably going to say something, not just about that, but something to give them a kind of injection before the game.

“But I have really a feeling that we don’t need extra motivation now, we have a big motivation in training and I’m expecting it to be even bigger in games.

“There is still a long way to go in the Premier League. We want to climb the table so the motivation will not be a problem on Saturday.”

At least Payet will not be around to stir the Hornets’ nest following the France international’s acrimonious January switch back to Marseille.

But Bilic will not ban his other flair players from attempting the rabona – in the right situation.

“It’s all about where, and the intention,” he added. “If it ends with a goal like that one from Payet, it’s great.

“I really don’t think it’s anything to do with humiliation. You have players like Ricardo Quaresma who does that regularly. The way he crosses the ball is better than in a normal way.

“It means the goalkeeper is not ready for the cross. He’s expecting you to roll the ball and then whip it in. It’s the reason we scored that goal, because neither the keeper nor the defenders were ready for the cross at that time.

“Every football fan can see a situation that is over the top, when you are disrespecting the opponents, which a good football player would never do.

“But we don’t see a lot of it and I would never count rabonas in that category.”