Watford's players hope the Hornets can use Saturday’s morale-boosting display at Manchester City to reignite the club’s play-off push.

But head coach Beppe Sannino claims finishing in the top six is not his immediate target; stressing that he is focusing on each match and week as they come and will then “see where we are at the end”.

The Hornets were beating one of the biggest clubs in Europe 2-0 at half-time on Saturday and although the match finished in a 4-2 defeat at the Etihad Stadium, it was an impressive display from the visitors.

Watford are 16th in the Championship and are 13 points below sixth-placed Reading. 

However, the Golden Boys do have two or three games in hand on most of the teams above them.

Speaking after the weekend’s FA Cup tie, defender Lloyd Doyley said: “The play-offs are still the goal. We are struggling in mid-table at the moment but we know we can do a lot better and we need a lot more consistency.

“We need to win two or three games on the bounce and now we can concentrate only on the league, get up the table and put pressure on those teams higher up the table.”

Midfielder Sean Murray added: “It (using the City momentum to start a play-off push) is very important for us.

“We have a tough couple of games with Nottingham Forest and Brighton so if we can take the momentum from this game into those then we will have a great chance to win them both.”

Sannino continues to improve the Hornets but he was reluctant to state the play-offs are his target.

“In my opinion, my players know they did very well on Saturday but it is not one performance which allows them to think positively, they have to always be positive,” Sannino replied when he was asked if the City display could be the catalyst for a play-off push.

“I don’t know if the play-offs are the target. My target is for us to do better each game, get as many points as we can and see where we are at the end

“If I tell you ‘yes the play-offs are the target’ then it is only words. I like to earn the points on the pitch and take it game by game. I am practical,” he added.