Neil Warnock tips Roy Hodgson and Ismaila Sarr to save Watford from relegation nightmare

Neil Warnock has always championed the maxim about age being a case of mind over matter – if you don't mind, it doesn't matter.

And as he welcomed 74-year-old Roy Hodgson's return to the dodgems on Watford's fairground, English football's most-promoted manager acclaimed his fellow septuagenarian's enduring taste for adventure.

Warnock was three weeks short of his 73rd birthday when he was sawn off by Middlesbrough in November, and he is not yet resigned to indefinite detention with Homes Under the Hammer and daytime TV's assorted sedatives.

But he believes Hodgson and Watford could prove an inspired fit – especially if injured winger Ismaila Sarr returns to help the former England coach roll away the stone.

Warnock, who managed a record 1,603 games in professional football, said: “When you turn 70, sometimes the job makes you feel younger, maybe because you relish it more.

“I can see why Roy doesn't want to let go because you keep promising yourself this is the last job, this year you'll pack it in... and then you switch on the box, there's a game on and straight away you miss it.

“The Watford job might suit Roy down to the ground because it's not a long-term project, or whatever they call it these days.

“It's five or six months, 18 games to keep them up, and it would be brilliant - for him and them - if he does it.

“He won't worry about standing on the touchline when it's raining – when the adrenaline kicks in, it'll feel good to be back.

“Some of my most enjoyable jobs were short-term missions, like going into Rotherham and keeping them up. That's what keeps you fresh, and Roy obviously feels he's got the energy to take on one more job.

“I never worried about being a senior citizen, or the age gap involved when you