Nigel Pearson believes Watford will now avoid relegation from the Premier League, provided they can maintain their competitive edge, starting at Crystal Palace on Saturday.

When the head coach joined the club, they were languishing at the bottom of the table, nine points adrift of safety, but performances since have seen them climb out of the bottom three, with a huge win over league leaders Liverpool last week his latest success.

Ahead of the trip to Selhurst Park this weekend, Pearson said his players had shown both the right attitude to take into their remaining games and an important understanding of the club's situation.

"I believe we'll stay up is the first thing to say," said Pearson.

"We've worked very hard to get into a competitive situation and we've had some very good performances. [There's been] some very good days, and days where we've not quite been at our our best.

"What I want us to always do is to be as competitive as we can and have the intent when we go on the field to reproduce our best performance. Last week we were able to do it and I thought we played very very well, and got a fabulous win.

"But straight after that game the players were very clear to make the point that these aren't the games that we need to win, so their understanding of our situation is pretty clear and I like the fact that they're clear that we have to find that level of performance every time that we play."

This weekend, Pearson is expecting a tough but exciting fixture against a team he saw hold Watford to a goalless draw shortly after he was named as the club's new head coach.

He believes Palace manager Roy Hodgson will be saying similar things to his own players as well.

"We know it'll be a very tough game for us but it's also one where I'm sure they'll be saying similar things," he said.

"The corresponding fixture at our place was a 0-0 draw, but in terms of the actual game it was one in which I think both sides were trying to win it.

"It wasn't a boring game of chess, it was two sides committed, who on the day nullified each other, but it will be a tough game for sure."