Watford must be more ruthless in front of goal against Leicester City, insists manager Javi Gracia

The Spaniard's side head to the King Power Stadium having found the net just once in their last three games

Watford manager Javi Gracia has challenged his players to rediscover their cutting edge when they take on Leicester City.

The Hornets went down 3-0 at home to Liverpool last weekend, and have managed just one goal in their past three games.

Gracia, who earlier this week signed a new four-and-a-half-year deal, remains confident his players are doing everything right in their build-up play, and now just need to start making the most of their opportunities.

“I am happy with all the players when we speak about defensive work, but we need to improve and take the chances we have,” Gracia said.

“We are creating chances but we are not scoring the goals we deserve.”

The Watford boss continued: “The best way to have a good chance of getting a good result is try to keep the good things we are doing.

“It's true in the last games we didn't win, but we were closer than the results [suggest]. We have confidence we can do it. We are able to win if we improve some things.”

Gracia signed a new four-and-a-half year contract at Watford earlier this week (Getty)

Leicester secured a place in the quarter-finals of the EFL Cup on Tuesday night after beating Southampton on penalties.

The Foxes sit just below Watford in the Premier League table following successive draws.

Gracia knows whatever selection Leicester manager Claude Puel decides upon for Saturday's match, his players must be ready for a tough challenge at the King Power Stadium.

“They have good players,” he added. “You see sometimes they play with [Shinji] Okazaki, sometimes with [Jamie] Vardy, other times with a second striker in [Kelechi] Iheanacho and also [James] Maddison.

“They have many different options and are well organised. I like the way they are playing this season. It will be a very demanding game for us, but we are looking forward to it and we will try to get a good result.”

Gracia arrived at Vicarage Road last January to replace Marco Silva, and comfortably secured the Hornets another season in the top flight once again. He says he intends to be in it for the long haul.

“When you have stability, it is good for the players, the club, and for me as well,” he insisted. “It's good news for all of us.”

“In this moment, the players can feel well because maybe they prefer this stability, but I said many times I don't need a new contract to do my best or my work 100 per cent.”