Watford's trip to Stoke has become the "biggest game of the season", according to midfielder Ben Watson.

On Wednesday in their first Premier League fixture under new head coach Javi Gracia, the Hornets visit fellow strugglers Stoke hoping to arrest adecline which led to eight defeats from the last 11 league games and contributed to the sacking of Marco Silva.

Only four points seperate the club from the bottom three, despite remaining in the top-half throughout that dismal run, and relegation is becoming a realistic fear at Vicarage Road.

After a drab defeat at Southampton on Saturday, victory at Stoke would provide the lift they had hoped for from Gracia's appointment, and 32-year-old Watson said: "For me, for the boys and everyone involved, it is probably the biggest game of the season.

"[A lack of confidence] is what you get when you are not winning games and struggling for form, but we have got to keep going and get out of this.

"We can't rely on anyone, and Wednesday is the biggest game of the season.

"If you ask anyone in the Premier League, first and foremost it is about being a Premier League club next year.

"We have got to go to Stoke and impose ourselves and we have to make sure that we leave nothing on the pitch.

"Any of 10 teams could go down and we have to make sure we are not one of them.

"We are in this hole and we as players, as staff, and everyone involved, we have to get out of it."

Spaniard Gracia, 47, added of the circumstances he has inherited: "It is accepted in every country and every league and every team that managers and coaches are in danger.

"You are on fire, we say in Spanish; meaning there are many risks and you are in danger.

"I don't know how long it will take to get over my ideas to the players. We tried to improve against Southampton, but it is hard to give an exact time."