The Premier League will be poorer without Jose Mourinho, according to Quique Sanchez Flores, but the Hornets boss isn’t thinking about the Boxing Day trip to Chelsea yet.

Mourinho and Chelsea parted company by ‘mutual consent’ on Thursday after the Blues lost 2-1 at Leicester City on Monday evening.

Defeat at the King Power Stadium leaves the reigning champions 16th in the Premier League – just a point above the relegation zone.

But Flores, speaking ahead of Sunday’s clash with Liverpool at Vicarage Road, says he isn’t concerning himself with the Boxing Day trip to Stamford Bridge.

“We will have to wait one more week to think about the match against Chelsea,” he said.

“The reaction of the players when a new coach comes in is to show what they can do. The dynamic and the energy of the players changes a lot.

“It’s ten days away and for now we have to think about Liverpool.”

Mourinho went down swinging, claiming in the aftermath of defeat against the Foxes his players had betrayed him defensively.

But despite Chelsea’s struggles this season, Flores believes English football will miss the combustible Portuguese boss.

“It was a surprise he was sacked,” he said. “It would be very nice for the Premier League to keep this calibre of coach.

“Jose Mourinho is one of the best managers of the last 15 years. He showed what he could do in this league.

“I think the Premier League has a lot of high calibre managers and Mourinho is one of the best. It isn’t good for the Premier League to lose this kind of coach.

“It is impossible to talk about what happened inside the club from a distance,” he replied when asked why Mourinho had failed so spectacularly this season.

“What is true is that the results have not been enough. It’s difficult because they have very good players, Jose Mourinho is a very good coach and they have a big history. Football is always a surprise.”