AFTER Watford's best away display for a year, Luca Vialli was suitably pleased at Grimsby.

"It was a good performance and a big improvement again. That is the way up. We were quite solid at the back and always a threat when we went forward. I was very pleased," he admitted.

"We were the better team and we took advantage of a couple of good opportunities at the beginning of the match. The second goal probably killed the match off at the end of the first half.

"My only worry was that we could have got sloppy, being two goals up, but we kept defending very well, putting players behind the ball, even if our tempo got a little bit slower. But I was always under the impression we could score a third, and possibly a fourth goal.

One of the key elements in Watford's improvement has been the performances of Micah Hyde. Vialli acknowledged that, saying: "It is pleasing for Micah. I know that Micah would like to be the main man in midfield, getting the ball all the time, but I think one of his main strengths are his running without the ball and his use of the spaces the strikers are supposed to create.

"He has done it the last three or four games, scored a few goals and his performances are improving, and I am pleased with that.

"Micah is a good player and would have been free at the end of the season, but now we know he is going to be with us for a little while.

Another player who is really catching the eye is Gifton Noel-Williams.

"I think Gifton is very focused and has taken his chance very well," said Vialli. "He knows he has to perform well to keep his position in the side. His fitness is also at a very high level, so he is injury free, he can train very well, and, I think, if you speak to him, he feels much better and he feels he can run around, jump, run into spaces and hold the ball up well. His improvement in his jumping is also down to fitness."

Asked if he was disappointed they had to wait so long for success away from home, Vialli said: "The start has been a bit worse than expected, but it is a long way to go this season, and we have time to improve. We look to win every game we play and take it from there.

"Obviously, as a manager you want them to improve all the time. There is always something not working perfectly, but I have to be honest: this performance pleased me a lot as a manager.

"There were a few things I was not particularly happy with. In the first half, we had a lot of chances and we did not take them. When that happens, usually you make a little mistake, the opposition scores and they get a little bit of courage, and the match turns out to be much more difficult than it should have been.

"We have to take those chances, but nobody is perfect."

October 30, 2001 15:30