After four consecutive defeats Quique Sanchez Flores admitted something had to change as Watford switched to a 4-3-2-1 formation for this afternoon’s 2-1 win over Newcastle United.

The Hornets were unfortunate in defeats to Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City but the same couldn’t be said of losses at Southampton and Swansea City.

In both games the Golden Boys were second best in every department.

Flores adapted the 4-4-2 system he has stuck by in recent weeks, pushing Jose Manuel Jurado into a number ten role behind Odion Ighalo with Troy Deeney alongside him.

It worked to great effect with the Spaniard hugely impressive in a central role rather than on the left of a midfield four.

Discussing the change, Flores said: “We needed to do something different after four losses.

“I believe in what we’ve been doing through the season. Playing 4-4-2 or 4-2-3-1 we are a strong team.

“I needed to transmit a different message to the players in the meeting [before the game].

"It was the third time we’ve played against Newcastle and they changed things in the other matches.

“So for us it was important to change the shape to 4-3-2-1. Playing with Jurado and Deeney behind Ighalo is working well. We created problems for Newcastle.”

The switch afforded Jurado greater licence to attack with Valon Behrami on the left-hand side of the midfield three, affording the defence greater protection.

“The cover for Jurado is (Valon) Behrami,” said Flores. “It’s different. When you are a winger you have to run in this position and when we lose the ball you need to return as quickly as possible.

“In this position he (Jurado) is a bit freer, he can go in attack with (Etienne) Capoue or the strikers. If we lose the ball passing the ball we have Behrami who is very quick to cover this position.

“I think the players enjoyed it in the first half and the fans enjoyed the match a lot,” Flores continued.

“We had the opportunity to score more and in the last minutes we suffered because we conceded a goal.

“The memory is very weak sometimes and we have suffered a lot in the last few matches [at that stage]. It’s very important to close the result out.”

Flores was especially pleased with the way his side ensured victory by defending a one-goal lead for the final 19 minutes after Jamaal Lascelles’ header.

“We came [into this game] from a very bad run, not in terms of the feeling,” said Flores. “

The first two games, against Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur, the feeling was amazing. But it’s true that against Southampton it was very bad and Swansea City it was in the first half.

“It was very difficult sometimes to convince the players that it’s just a bad run. The result is not concerned with the feelings.

“But I know the mentality of the players have been a little bit down. Today was very important for us. We recuperated a lot of very good habits we’ve had during the season.

“We are in the top half so we have a lot of reasons to be happy and to try to enjoy ourselves. It’s in our hands whether we enjoy or suffer this season.

“The target is the same – to survive in the league. When we enjoy ourselves this experience is worth.”