WATFORD will spend Christmas Day at the top of the Championship after continuing their impressive away form this afternoon with a workmanlike 1-0 win at Sheffield Wednesday.

A seventh-minute strike from Jobi McAnuff was enough to hand the Hornets their eighth away win of the campaign and usurp West Bromwich Albion at the top of the table. More encouragingly for Watford fans will have been the impressive performance of Nathan Ellington who showed glimpses of the talent that prompted Watford to pay a club record fee for the striker.

Ellington justified his inclusion ahead of Tamas Priskin, who did not even make the 16, by leading the line well, winning his fair share of headers and setting up the winner for McAnuff. His task is to now help Watford end their miserable home form against Cardiff City on Boxing Day.

Boothroyd recalled Francis, McAnuff and Ellington to the starting line-up for the game at Hillsborough and saw the trio combine for Watford to open the scoring after just seven minute.

Francis, who added some much-needed dynamism to the midfield, charged forward from midfield, played the ball into the path of Ellington who advanced forward before bisecting two defenders with a perfectly weighted pass for McAnuff. Running from left to right, McAnuff steered the ball first time past Lee Grant and into the bottom right-hand corner for his first goal for the Hornets. It was the sort of start Boothroyd must have dreamed of.

Ellington looked particularly bright in the first 45 minutes and he will feel he should have broken his duck on 17 minutes. Receiving a pass from Marlon King on the left-hand side, Ellington turned his man brilliantly to give himself a shooting opportunity but his shot looped harmlessly over the bar after he appeared to have done all the hard work.

However, Watford failed to build on their promising start, seemingly content to sit back and strike on the counter attack with their rapier front runners and it was Wednesday who fashioned the better chances for the remainder of the half.

Marcus Tudgay and Steve Watson both comically contrived to miss their kick after a clever piece of play down the left from Burton O'Brien and then an unmarked Tudgay sidefooted just wide after some good play from Glenn Whelan and Wade Small.

In the final five minutes of the half, Hinds failed to generate sufficient power on a header from ten yards out before Tudgay blasted into the side-netting.

Wednesday started the second half as they had ended the first - on the front foot and it took a fine save to his left from Richard Lee to deny Tudgay who had tried his luck from the left-hand edge of the penalty area.

At the other end, Ellington should really have hit the target with a free header from a Tommy Smith corner while McAnuff was only denied his second by a brave block from Lee Bullen.

Boothroyd replaced the impressive but tiring Ellington on 72 minutes with Darius Henderson, but the nine-goal striker's first task was to form part of a goal-line defensive wall after the referee penalised Lee for picking up a pass back from Jordan Stewart. And the wall did its job, with John-Joe O'Toole bravely charging down the close-range strike from Whelan.

Much to Boothroyd's relief that was the final anxious moment of the afternoon and Watford successfully closed out the game to ensure they returned to the top of the table at the first attempt.

Sheffield Wednesday: Grant; Bullen, Hinds, M Johnson, Spurr; J Johnson, Watson, Whelan, O'Brien; Tudgay, Small.

Subs: Burton for J Johnson and Folly for Watson, 69. Esajas for O'Brien, 82. Lunt and Beevers not used.

Watford: Lee; Doyley, DeMerit, Jackson, Stewart; Smith, Francis, O'Toole, McAnuff; King, Ellington.

Subs: Henderson for Ellington, 72. Williamson for McAnuff, 81. Ainsworth, Poom and Shittu not used.

Ref: Clive Oliver Booked: Watson, Small, Whelan.

Att: 19,641