BY DARREN JOHNSTONE – Capital City Press
Scotland winger Ikechi Anya admits he cannot wait to go up against some of the best players in the world following Watford’s promotion back to the English top-flight.
The 27-year-old had been linked with a move to Celtic prior to Hoops assistant manager John Collins confessing that they cannot afford the playmaker.
But Anya insists the Premier League is the place to be and he is relishing the prospect of locking horns with the likes of the two Manchester clubs.
The 15-times capped midfielder, who featured 36 times for the Hornets on their way to securing second place in the Championship, said: “We’re going to the likes of Manchester City and Manchester United – it’s going to be intense. It’s going to be crazy.
“Everyone says the Premier League is where you want to be. So if we want to be there, we need to prove that we’re good enough to be there.
“The aim should be to get to 40 points as quickly as possible, and then see how far up the league we can get. With the quality that we’ve got in the squad, I don’t think there’s any reason not to be confident.
“We can approach every game and play our own game. I think we’ll be successful.”
Anya admits he is fortunate to be so well looked after at Watford.
He added: “We’ve been so lucky. We stay in a hotel before each game, we fly to games. The recovery, the training, and the facilities – everything we do is of a Premier league standard.
“Some of the Premier League lads I’m with at Scotland don’t even have all this stuff. If you’re a Watford player, you’re very lucky to have all these facilities.”
