Watford determined to cement Premier League spot

LONDON, May 22 (Reuters) Watford will be looking to emulate Wigan Athletic rather than Sunderland when they step back into the Premier League next season.

A 3-0 victory over Leeds United in the promotion playoff final on Sunday handed Watford their ticket back to the top flight.

''I know we are favourites to go down but we won't,'' Watford manager Adrian Boothroyd said defiantly as he basked in the glory of victory over a famous club struggling to get back where they believe they belong.

''We're now a model for other clubs that don't have a great deal of money but from good organisation, a real hunger and no-fear attitude everything is possible,'' Boothroyd, who at 35 will be the youngest manager in the Premier League next season, told reporters.

Watford had one season in the Premier League in 1999-2000 but went back down and Wigan, whose football pedigree was even smaller, began the 2005-06 season as favourites to take the same route.

Instead, Wigan, fortunate to have a benefactor in chairman Dave Whelan, surprised the elite of English football by storming into the top positions in the early season before finishing 10th.

Sunderland, another big club like Leeds, had won the second division title in 2005 and were expected to flourish back in the Premier League but had a dismal season and went back down with a record low points tally.

Watford, almost relegated to the third division a year ago, will be looking for an extended run in the top flight like they enjoyed under ex-chairman Elton John and former England manager Graham Taylor from 1982 to 1988 during which they also reached the FA Cup final.

LEEDS LOSS American defender Jay DeMerit, who headed their opening goal and was voted man of the match on Sunday, epitomises Watford's spirit, having emerged from minor-league obscurity less than two years ago.

''If 11 guys do their job there's no reason why you shouldn't win and today (Sunday) was testament to that,'' he said.

Boothroyd, a coach at Leeds under their manager Kevin Blackwell little more than a year ago, had words of sympathy for the losers, saying: ''They're a massive club and I'm sure they will bounce back.'' Only a few years ago Leeds were flying high as one of the forces in the English game, having reached the semi-finals of the Champions League in 2001.

However, things began to go badly wrong on and off the field.

Millions had been invested in top players and when the 2001/2002 season ended with them in fifth place and out of the Champions League, the hole in the budget proved too big.

The club announced an annual loss of almost 50 million pounds and Leeds were relegated in 2004 as the heart of the squad was sold to plug the spiralling debts.

The slide continued as they finished 14th in the second division last season but Blackwell gradually turned things round with a rebuilt young team and may not have to wait much longer for a place back among the elite.

Reuters