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Watford to ring changes at West Ham with eyes on Wembley semi-final
• Quique Sánchez Flores calls on players to impress before FA Cup semi-final
• ‘We need to improve. I am not sure if 41 points is enough’

The Watford manager, Quique Sánchez Flores, has promised there will be changes at West Ham on Wednesday as the Spaniard gives all of his players the opportunity to impress before the FA Cup semi-final on Sunday.

Watford, promoted back to the Premier League last season, are within touching distance of guaranteeing their top-flight status following their 1-0 victory at West Bromwich Albion on Saturday.

Ben Watson scored the only goal of the game at The Hawthorns but victory was made possible by two penalty saves by the Brazilian goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes. It moved Watford on to 41 points, 11 clear of 18th-placed Sunderland with five matches remaining.

With survival all but assured for Watford, Flores’s side will travel to West Ham for their next league game before making the short trip to Wembley to face Crystal Palace. The Spaniard claimed it did not make his job any easier selecting a team to play at Upton Park. He said: “It’s very difficult. We analyse West Ham, it’s completely different to West Brom, it’s another game and of course away again.

“It’s very difficult to play against West Ham but trying again to come back to our best feelings, trying to defend well, and to change a lot of players because I promised yesterday before training, I said to the players I think practically all of them are going to play in these two matches.

“I need to know how they look before the weekend. But it’s difficult because I am not sure it [41 points] is enough or not, but what is important is that we keep positive. We need to improve, we can improve, we have to play five matches more in the Premier League and the semi-final and it is important to win.”