Watford's Rocco Vata scored a last-minute winner against Portsmouth on St. Stephen's Day, propelling Watford into the play-off spots.
Watford boss Tom Cleverley hailed Ireland Under-21 star Rocco Vata after his injury-time winner against Portsmouth on St Stephen’s Day. However, the one-time Manchester United prospect also urged fans to be patient with the 19-year-old, who was making his 12th Championship appearance of the campaign, with three of those coming as a starter.
Vata came off the bench at half-time on Thursday and netted in the fifth minute of injury-time to secure all three points and move Watford in the play-off spots, with seventh placed Middlesbrough dropping points against Sheffield Wednesday. It was the Scottish-born forward’s second goal of the season - he popped up with a late equaliser in the December 11 draw with Hull. And Cleverley remarked: “I said it about (Kwadwo) Baah earlier in the season, to not expect too much, too soon, from one of our highly talented youngsters, and the same goes with Rocco. “But we have an exciting prospect on our hands and he's really improving. “He is desperate to score goals. He's an animal in and around the box and it’s no fluke he’s got two big goals for us.” Vata is also eligible to play international football for Scotland, Montenegro and Albania. His dad Rudi Vata won 59 caps for Albania and spent three seasons at Celtic. Rocco made the move from Celtic to Watford during the summer after spending 12 years progressing through the academy to the first-team at the Scottish giants. Senior Ireland boss Heimir Hallgrímsson may take a close look at the teenager in the run-up to the March Nations League promotion/relegation play-off against Bulgaria
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