Two clean sheets have made a massive difference to Watford Women in their last two Championship games, and they’ve come off the back of a change in formation and where some players play.

Harley Bennett had spent the season so far playing in the centre of defence, but last week at Durham she switched to right wing-back and helped secure a 2-0 away win.

Yesterday she carried out the same role, and Watford secured a 2-0 win over Birmingham that lifted them off the foot of the table.

“I’d never played wing-back before but Damon spoke to me and asked how I felt about it, and I said I’ll just do what the team needs,” said Bennett.

“I don’t mind doing a lot of running and I think I just have to do what the team needs me to do.

“As a defender keeping a clean sheet is what we thrive on, and I feel that we’re starting to get what we deserve.

“All season we’ve played well and just not got the results, so it feels good to get points on the board and a clean sheet.

“We’ve spoken a lot about being rigid out of possession and battling to make sure we are at least in the game.

“We know that if we stay in games then we have what it takes going forwards. We defended set pieces really well, and generally that helped build momentum.”

Watford have always been able to compete in a footballing sense with the rest of the Championship but there have been times where they’ve been outmuscled.

That has changed in the last two games, which have delivered six points, four goals and a pair of clean sheets.

“We are a great footballing team and we’ve shown that through the season, but I think now we know what this league is about and we have changed how we’re playing a little bit,” said Bennett.

“We’ve shown that other side of ourselves. We can battle, we can go toe-to-toe with two of the best teams physically in the league.

“We have adapted to get points, and I think what we’ve got we’ve really deserved.”

In attack, Michelle Agyemang scored both goals yesterday and has been a revelation since returning from injury.

“I’m glad she’s on my team!” Bennett laughed.

“We have to play against her in training and she’s just so powerful but also good when it comes into her feet.

“She’s got it all and today she gave an unreal performance, but also we stayed in the game and then brought her on with 70 minutes gone.

“So it’s not just about Michelle: she’s fantastic and scores us goals, but it was very much a team effort.”