The Hornets are one place above the drop zone and the result against the Hammers could play a major role in deciding their English top-flight status
Watford winger Ismaila Sarr has stated his side would approach their Premier League game against West Ham United on Friday like a ‘final’.
After a poor start to the season, where they failed to secure victory in their opening 11 games, including suffering a heavy 8-0 defeat against Manchester City, the Hornets dropped to the relegation zone.
In their quest for a turnaround, Nigel Pearson was appointed as manager in December 2019 and has since been trying to salvage the season for them.
Having won their last two games, against Newcastle United and Norwich City, the Hornets are one place and three points above the relegation zone.
Sarr, who joined the club last summer for a record fee of £30 million, has revealed his side will leave no stone unturned in their quest to secure victory against West Ham as well as win their remaining games.
"I think we were seven points adrift at the bottom when Nigel arrived. We had started very badly," Sarr told Sky Sports.
“It's a big achievement to get the situation to where it is now, and restart for next season with better ambitions, but we are all really focused to help the team keep ourselves up this season.
"He's changed a lot of things. First of all, the mentality and also the balance between defence and attack. Personally, for me, he's changed a lot, I now am playing regularly and he's given me his confidence, so I try to do my job in the best way to satisfy this confidence.
"Going to West Ham will be a very difficult, very tough game, we know that, but we are focused on the game altogether to play like a team, improve our quality on the pitch, and we know that it is very much going to be like a final. We've prepared for it like that, in the best way.
"Coming into the game after back-to-back wins are very important because since the restart we had been in trouble, but these games have given us a lot of confidence to fight until the end of the season to stay in the Premier League.
"The mood in the dressing room is better, obviously we needed to win these two games and it's not easy to do that when the pressure is on but to get two in a row, six points, is very difficult."
Sarr has scored six goals and provided five assists in 27 appearances across all competitions since joining the side from French side Rennes.
The fleet-footed forward was part of Senegal’s squad that finished as runner-up at the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt.