Deeney double seals Watford comeback against Villa

Britain Football Soccer - Watford v Aston Villa - Barclays Premier League - Vicarage Road - 30/4/16 Aston Villa's Leandro Bacuna and Joleon Lescott look dejected after Troy Deeney (not pictured) scores the third goal for Watford Action Images via Reuters / Matthew Childs Livepic

(Reuters) - Watford staged an astonishing recovery against basement side Aston Villa with two late goals from Troy Deeney to ease the pressure on manager Quique Sanchez Flores.

The Spaniard said before the game that he felt unappreciated after steering the mid-table Hertfordshire club to Premier League safety and an FA Cup semi-final.

But the players clearly still believe in him and refused to accept defeat against a Villa side who twice led either side of halftime through Ciaran Clark and Jordan Ayew, the first time Villa have scored twice away since September.

In between Almen Abdi had equalised for Watford before Deeney settled matters late on with a close-range header after 90 minutes and a right-foot strike three minutes later that left Villa equalling a club record of 11 straight league defeats.

(Reporting by Neil Robinson; Editing by Ken Ferris)