Super Eagles forward, Odion Ighalo, plans to dedicate his next Barclays Premier League game to his late father according to Watford boss, Quique Sanchez Flores.
Paul Ighalo passed away few hours after his son had played for the Hornets during the FA Cup semi-final defeat to Crystal Palace on Saturday.
Watford host already relegated Aston Villa at Vicarage Road on Saturday – with the former Granada striker eager to feature in honour of his late father.
“He is sad but focused on the game,” the Spanish tactician said in a press conference on Thursday.
“He wants to dedicate the match to his father. He is the kind of player who doesn’t need extra motivation.
“He is an amazing player, a player who scored lots of goals for us at the start of the season. He is very clever.”
Sanchez Flores disclosed that his top scorer would have been granted compassionate leave by the Hornets if he had chosen to return to Nigeria but opted to remain in England and see out the remainder of Watford’s Premier League campaign.
Ighalo has trained this week and Sanchez Flores says he is ready to unleash the Nigerian on Villa – applauding the player’s “strong mentality”.
“He has trained every day in a normal way,” the former Valencia manager added.
“Nothing has changed in his training. He has a strong mentality. For me, life is always more important than your profession, but cultures and families work differently.
“From the moment I found out his father passed away, I asked him: ‘Do you want to go back to Lagos?’ He told me no because he will go there at the end of the season.”
Ighalo is currently the fifth top scorer in the English top flight with 14 goals and three assists in his debut season.
