Watford players believe they can shock ‘beatable’ Manchester City in FA Cup final after stunning Wolves

A day earlier, the Watford players had gathered in a room in their London hotel to watch Manchester City play Brighton in the first FA Cup semi-final. They watched City go ahead through Gabriel Jesus’s stooping header, before Brighton made the afternoon far more uncomfortable for Pep Guardiola than anyone thought they would.

So as triumphant Watford players trickled out of Wembley Stadium on Sunday – having come back from 2-0 down to beat Wolves in the second semi-final – and they were asked about the prospect of facing the Premier League champions, the answer was unanimous.

“They are beatable,” insisted Craig Cathcart, the Northern Ireland international who has been an ever-present in Watford’s defence. “It’s going to be difficult for them trying to go for four trophies. We saw the game [on Saturday] and Brighton caused them a lot of problems.”

The same message came from his teammate Andre Gray, who teed up Gerard Deulofeu’s extra-time winner against Wolves. “We are obviously going to be underdogs by quite a way, but they’re beatable, like any team in this league,” said Gray. “It’s a final, anything can happen.”

Watford will not take much encouragement from their performances against the top six this season, in which they’ve won only one game, against Tottenham back in September. They have found some of those experiences chastening, Gray admits, but he insisted the Cup final will be closer. “In the league it’s different. Sometimes it’s demoralising knowing you’re going to their place and they’re outplaying you. But it’s a final. We’ve got absolutely nothing to lose.”

Before the challenge of City there will be the internal struggle that comes with these once-in-a-lifetime occasions. Competition for a place in Javi Gracia’s first XI will be fierce, no more so than alongside captain Troy Deeney in attack, where Gray has been sharing duties with Deulofeu.

“Gerard’s come on and won the two goals,” said Gray. “It’s just about staying focused, and I managed to do that with the assist in extra time. We’ve both been passing the baton on now, coming on as substitutes and doing well. But it’s a team game, it doesn’t matter how you do it, it’s just about winning.”

Even before extra time, there was the sense the momentum of the game had already swung irreversibly in Watford’s favour. The club has never won the FA Cup before, but there is a feeling in the squad that the stars are aligning.

“Yeah, possibly,” said Cathcart, when asked if Watford’s name was on the trophy. “The way things fell just gives us that little boost and confidence that anything can happen in a game.”

“We all knew that it was our time,” added Gray. They still have the small matter of overcoming the Premier League champions in order to complete the job, but half the task is believing it is possible, and after Sunday’s drama there is no shortage of faith in Watford.