Boothroyd demands Watford be ruthless at the top

The Watford manager Adrian Boothroyd has challenged his side to become more ruthless after they opened up a nine-point lead at the top of the Championship with a 3-0 win at Coventry. Goals from Adam Johnson, Marlon King and Darius Henderson proved easily sufficient on Tuesday night for the Hornets, who have won nine of their 12 league games so far. A 3-0 win away might satisfy most managers, but not Boothroyd.

"We have to be a lot more ruthless. As long as we don't become complacent and keep getting better then I'll be happy," he said. "I really don't want to worry about everyone else but it's nice to open up a gap."

West Bromwich are second after beating Blackpool 2-1 and the manager Tony Mowbray hopes the victory, through goals from Ishmael Miller and James Morrison, can be the kickstart his team need. Mowbray said: "Now we have won it transforms everything. Let's hope we can get off and running again."

There were similar sentiments from the Sheffield United manager, Bryan Robson, after his struggling side won 1-0 at Leicester. Danny Webber scored the Blades' only goal for their first league win on the road since December. "Hopefully this is a turning point," Robson said. "We now have to build on this performance and the one against Preston at the weekend."