VIALLI warned that the convincing away win at Grimsby may be slightly misleading. The Watford boss pointed out his team was fresh and rested, as opposed to coming to the game after playing in mid-week.

Vialli pointed out: "We had not been playing away from home for a little while and that gave us an opportunity to look at things and put them right. Actually, we were quite upset when the match last Tuesday (v Millwall) was postponed.

"On the other hand, that gave us more time to prepare for this game and the players were fresh and up for it and when you are that, it makes it quite difficult to analyse.

"But it is very difficult in this League. There are too many games. and that is why I I think it is a very unpredictable league. You play so many matches but you cannot expect to perform at your best all the time because the players might be mentally and physically drained."

Asked what pleased him most about the Grimsby display, the Watford manager replied: "Keeping a clean sheet is a big boost for our confidence. We have been playing well away from home and not getting the results, probably because of our inability of keeping a clean sheet. Now eventually we have managed that and I think everybody is going to feel a bit more confident in our future away games.

"The last couple of performances at Norwich and Crewe, even though we did not get a point, were excellent but this was even better and while, with so many new players, it takes time to adjust, I think we are on our way up.

"We have got to be on our toes all the time. This is the first win away from home and we have to show consistency all the way. We also have to show that we can win games without playing particularly well, which is something that hasn't happened yet.

But now we know we can win games away from home; we can be solid and we can be dangerous when we play counter-attack. I am pleased because, until you can find out you can do it, you don't actually know you can do it.

"However, having won at Grimsby and having kept a clean sheet and played well, there might be more self-belief and more enthusiasm. We know now we can win away from home and we might have more of a winning mentality."

October 25, 2001 11:32

Oliver Phillips