Watford head coach Nigel Pearson acknowledged that football “is just a job we have to do” after Troy Deeney’s comments that “real pressure is watching my mum work three jobs”.

The Hornets were under mounting pressure with just one Premier League win all season prior to Sunday’s 2-0 win over Manchester United.

Deeney scored the second of the game from the penalty spot, his first of the season following a lengthy injury lay-off, before making the comment about pressure after the match.

After the game, the striker told Sky Sports: “I’ve said it before, real pressure is watching my mum work three jobs trying to make ends meet for Christmas. This is football. I’ve been injured for three months. It is what it is.

“We keep working, I’m never going to shy away from the challenge. I wish everyone a Merry Christmas but it’s nothing to do with me. These boys have been grafting for the three months I’ve not been here and I’m glad that everyone’s doing well.”

Responding to the captain's remarks, Pearson said: “You have to keep things in context somewhat. Let me just contextualize. The pressure of being in the situation we are in, in football, the pressure of relegation is a lot more difficult to deal with.

“In my experience, the pressure of succeeding is still there but is a lot better for your health than being at the wrong end of the table.

“I think what Troy is just trying to say, and he said it with quite a bit of humility as well is ‘look, this is just a job we have to do’.”

He continued: “I think he made that comment to try and offload some pressure off his teammates as much as anything. We are paid to do a job and we should embrace this challenge, because that’s what it is.

“It’s not anything to be frightened of. We are in a difficult situation but I think we have the tools to get out of it. We have just got to make sure we work at it day by day, week by week – but in the bigger picture of the world, it’s sport.”

Deeney’s goal saw him get off the mark for the campaign and while Pearson was happy for him to get his maiden strike, he admits that scoring goals and not the goal scorers themselves is the biggest concern at the moment.

He said: “I think Troy will put pressure on himself. He is a talismanic figure for us really. We need players within our side to go and do what they’re picked to do. He will be an important player for us.

“I think the injury he had has taken quite a while to recover from and I’m sure within the next few months he will continue to be an important player for us.

“I don’t think at the moment it really matters who scores, we just need to score more goals really, simple as that."

Pearson admitted he may have to manage Deeney's game time over the busy festive schedule, explaining: “Troy has come back from quite a long lay-off with a knee injury and even in the training schedule this week there are days that we have to manage the amount of training that some players do. That’s sensible.

“I think what is important is that we go into this run of fixtures and prioritise. We want to try and win as many games as we can, clearly, but this is where the squad ethic really comes into its own and we’ll probably need to make changes.”

Having joined the Hornets in 2010, Deeney has seen both good and bad times in his spell at the club, and Pearson says that the captain been a big help since his arrival.

He said: “He’s just a big character. He’s a player that has been here quite a long time. He’s seen good and bad times here so he’s got the experience of understanding what the club is about and he’s just been very positive.

“Most of the players have responded very well, I think that’s important. I think they recognise as well that we have to work together to get out of this situation.

“I don’t want to build it up to be anything that it’s not but we’ve got a good group of players who work hard and we’ve got a chance because of that.”