RAY WILKINS attended the press conference on following the Barnsley game on Saturday, November 3, and quickly batted away suggestions that Watford were "motoring".

"I wouldn't say we motored. The first half display was not one with which you can say we are motoring, but we are getting there," he said.

"The pleasing things from our point of view is back-to-back clean sheets, and we are now starting to look more like a team. It is very, very difficult when you bring in eight or nine players at the beginning of the season, to get the gelling going automatically.

"Now we actually do appear to look more like a team as the weeks go by."

"I think Alec (Chamberlain) has done exceptionally well. The goalkeeping position is just the same as any other position on the field. On Tuesday night, Luca felt a change was needed at this stage in our season and he made that change.

"Alec is an exceptionally good talker and communicator. He appears to have done very well, and he pulled off a fantastic save in the second half.

"Alec is a very valuable member of the squad and it is a squad now, whether you are an outfield player or a goalkeeper, and he deserved his chance."

Asked what (Heidar) Helguson has learnt over the past year, Wilkins said: "I don't think he has probably learnt anything, but he is one of those guys who in a crisis always comes up trumps for you, and he is a tremendous guy, as a human being.

"He just works very, very hard at his game, and he is one of the best headers of the ball for a smaller guy that I have seen for a long, long time.

"His leap is fantastic so he never lets defenders settle on the ball. He works his socks off which means that everyone else can stay nice and compact behind the ball. That is the same with young Tommy (Smith), who is a tremendous talent, and is still only a young man and can only improve."

Asked if Watford had a club knocking on the door for Smith, Wilkins said: "Not as far as I know. They can knock as much as they like. We will have people looking at him but hopefully, where we would like to finish, Tom would like to come with us."

Asked about (Paolo) Vernazza's speedy return, the coach replied: "Paolo is an exceptional young talent with still bundles to learn, as we all have, but he has done very well and he is extremely fit.

"During the period he has been out he has been working at his fitness.

"He gives us another string to our bow because he can run past people as well. He is not only a good passer but he can also get himself forward."

Asked about "the blow the club had sustained" by the incident in which Vernazza was stabbed, Wilkins pointed out it was not a blow to the club. "But it was a massive blow to Paolo. That is the important thing. We just wanted him to be safe and sound, as we want every human being in the country to be safe and sound.

"He was very keen to get back as quickly as possible. I think when you are involved in an incident such as Paolo's, we have to make sure he was ready to come back in rather than pushing him in.

"I have tried to leave him alone personally about the incident. As soon as his mind it taken off it, the sooner the better."

November 9, 2001 10:00