Jerome Sinclair helps Watford stop their rot against Burton Albion

With all the imports at Watford it is easy to forget that the club have several promising young English talents on their books. Two of them delivered a reminder here, as the 20-year-old Jerome Sinclair struck a splendid solo goal, after the Belgian defender Christian Kabasele opened the scoring thanks to excellent work by the 19-year-old Brandon Mason.

Those contributions killed Burton Albion’s hopes of springing a FA Cup surprise and hinted at reviving Watford’s season. The Premier League side had been on a dismal streak of results before this match but, thanks in particular to their youngsters, they summoned just enough class to suppress valiant Championship opponents. Burton played well but ended with nothing except concern for their striker Luke Varney, who, just days after the 34-year-old joined the club, was taken to hospital after injuring his ribs in a second-half collision with the home team’s goalkeeper, Costel Pantilimon.

That was cruel on Burton, a non-league club until 2009, who were aiming to win away at a top-flight side for the first time in their history. Nigel Clough had fielded his strongest available side but was punished for his audacity, as Varney’s injury came after a first half in which Burton had lost their other forward, Will Miller, to hamstring trouble. “That’s why so many teams change their line-ups for the FA Cup,” reflected Clough, left to hope his players recover swiftly enough to help keep the club above the Championship’s relegation zone.

Watford had come into the game with even more injury worries, their casualty list stretching to 11 players. The unavailability of so many regular starters gave Sinclair and Mason opportunities to make cases for more frequent inclusion. They put forward compelling arguments.

Mason was the first to impress. He was the outstanding player in an otherwise listless start by the Premier League team. Mason had made his debut as a substitute in the New Year’s Day trouncing by Tottenham Hotspur, becoming the first player to graduate from the club’s academy to the senior team since April 2015, and here, on his first start, he made his mark quickly. In the 21st minute he glided past Marcus Harness and fired a low pass across the face of goal. It was an irresistible invitation for a team-mate to tap in, which Kabasele duly did.

Watford perked up after that. Troy Deeney and Odion Ighalo sliced the visitors open with a slick combination in the 28th minute but the Nigerian’s shot from the edge of the area whizzed over. Before the break Étienne Capoue forced a save from Jon McLaughlin with a meaty drive from 25 yards. Pantilimon had still not been troubled at the other end. But Watford remained vulnerable, especially after Burton switched formation.

The visitors nearly equalised early in the second half when Tom Flanagan emulated Mason’s first-half feat by following a splendid run down the left with a fine low cross. Harness flung himself at the ball but missed it by millimetres, bringing gasps of anguish from the 400 or so travelling fans. Their concerns deepened just after the hour when Varney had to be carried off on a stretcher.

Sinclair, signed from Liverpool last summer, then settled the tie with a terrific solo goal, running powerfully from midfield before lashing a shot into the net from 20 yards. It did not seem like beginner’s luck but the player tried to banish any doubt by producing a replica goal in the last minute. This time he was foiled by McLaughlin. Never mind, he and Mason, whom Mazzarri described as wonderful, had made their points.

“Sometimes it’s fundamental to see what we’ve got at home in our house so we can make these players grow so we don’t always have to go abroad to sign players for great amounts of money,” said the Watford manager. Even so, he did not deny reports that Sinclair will be sent out on loan this month to continue his development. After this he is likely to have many suitors.