Gianfranco Zola says taking Watford to Premier League will be a career highlight

Gianfranco Zola feels guiding Watford to victory in Monday's Championship play-off final against Crystal Palace at Wembley will pretty much eclipse everything he has achieved in his career so far.

Watford are currently under a transfer embargo relating to irregularities under the club's previous owners, and have also been criticised for their extensive use of the loan market, bringing in many players from sister clubs Udinese and Granada, which are also owned by the Pozzo family. Palace boss Ian Holloway had labelled the situation "ludicrous", but this week moved to calm the waters ahead of Monday's showdown, praising Zola as a "genius" for bringing it all together. Zola hopes Watford's style will be what people are talking about come full-time at Wembley on Monday night. "I know that we have been called many things, but the best one I remember is we are a very good passing team which plays football. That is the best encouragement and comment that I have had and that is what I came here for," he said. "Our plan for this season was to play football in a certain way, not to (specifically) achieve promotion, we wanted to establish our philosophy to become a passing team of offensive football, and that is what we have become. "I understand there have been a lot of comments because of our (financial) status, but that has been clarified and I don't think that is going to happen (again) next year, the majority of players we have on loan will be our players, and that will stop everything. "I can understand all the comments that have been made, but it is time to move on."