Nigel Pearson hopes he will still be Watford head coach next season

The Hornets were nine points adrift at the foot of the table when the head coach took over and now they sit three points above the drop zone with just three games remaining.

Victory in tonight's clash with West Ham United would all-but confirm their safety, depending on results elsewhere, and Pearson hopes he has done enough to ensure he is in charge at Vicarage Road again come the start of the next campaign.

Speaking ahead of the match, Pearson said he has "an agreement" in place with the club, although he would not be drawn into any details. Instead he said he was focused on achieving Premier League survival first and foremost.

"Hopefully, yes," he said when asked if he would be in the same job next season. "But now's not the time to be talking about me. I've been speaking to the club and we've got an agreement and that's fine by me. Now's not the time to be talking about me, let's be honest, we've got three games left and it's important that we do everything we can to pick up as many points as possible.

"The future at the minute is not something that I don't feel the need to talk about, I'm very comfortable with my relationship with the club and how we've both dealt with the situation. We'll look at that when we need to, but not now. I'm really enjoying working here. I haven't enjoyed always being in a tough scrape, but it's been a good experience, so we'll look at that later."

Back in January, Pearson claimed he had developed an "emotional attachment" with the club and said that he was fully committed to the job.

With just three matches remaining this season, thoughts will soon be turning to his future and whether or not he will be seen as the man to take the club forward.

“It’s an emotional attachment with the job as well,” he said ahead of the Hornets' 3-0 win at Bournemouth at the start of the year.

“I’ve been asked a few times already about whether I had still got enthusiasm, or the drive or whatever or what it is to continue to work and those are the sorts of questions that I’ve asked myself for sure.

"I wouldn’t be here if I firstly didn’t think we were capable of getting out of the situation that we’re in, but I can’t ask people to be committed if I’m not committed myself, so all those things are very important to me and I think this club has got a really strong identity and there’s potential for us to rediscover what we are as a football club. I do feel attached to being a part of that and trying to rediscover that.”