Watford striker Andre Gray has dedicated his winning goal against Leicester City to his auntie Sarah following her recent unexpected death.

The forward came off the bench to snatch a late victory for the Hornets and after the game he explained that his celebrations were in part motivated by the emotions he felt following a tough couple of weeks.

"There was just a massive mix of emotions, I’ve had a tough couple of weeks," he said.

"I lost my auntie. It was about two weeks ago now, so it’s been difficult.

"It was unexpected, so it was tough. She always used to come to the home games – most of the time she didn’t tell us, she got the tickets directly from the liaison so it was important to score at a home game and then do that one for her, so there’s many different emotions in that win today."

Focusing on Watford, Gray knows the win against Leicester is a big one in their quest to finish the league in seventh place. 

Currently, the Hornets sit in eighth place, level on points with Wolverhampton Wanderers, but behind on goal difference. 

The striker said it was important that Watford keep beating the teams around them in order to finish as high up the table as possible.

He said: "For a club it was a six pointer this game and we just keep fighting for that seventh spot and give ourselves a gap against Leicester.

"We know how important it was, we’ve got two really tough away games in the league next so it was important to get the win today.

"Playing against the top five or six is always going to be difficult, but we do give a good show of ourselves.

"Sometimes you do get undone and the quality just overrides it so we just need to come to games like today and get the wins there and if we do lose against the top six so be it, as long as we win the games below."

For Gray this goal is more evidence for him to present to head coach Javi Gracia to suggest that he should be in the starting lineup.

A recent winning goal against Everton and his involvement in a late goal at Cardiff have shown he is a player in good form at the moment and he said he wants to push for a starting place, while helping out the team.

He said: "I was frustrated before Cardiff, I thought I might get my chance but I can’t complain – Gerry got his hat-trick and Troy got two. It’s part of football, you’ve got to take it on the chin and be a team player and I did that. It’s just about getting my head down and not complaining about it and just trying to do what I can when I come on.

"It’s difficult obviously, every player wants to play and I want to score goals, so it’s just about not making excuses.

"You’ve seen it before, substitutes scoring. Sometimes scoring two, scoring three, substitutes can do that. All I can do is take my chance and it’s a team effort, it’s the reason we are in the position we are. We’re all on the same page and the boys are in it together."