Troy Deeney has warned his Watford teammates that mistakes will be costly back in the Premier League.

The Hornets had a taste of what's to come at the weekend in their 3-1 away defeat to Crystal Palace but the captain knows that friendly match was not played with the intensity of a top flight fixture.

The 33-year-old thinks experiences like the weekend's match are important for his teammates to acclimatise to what is about to come their way.

“Some of the new boys got a feel of what the Premier League action will be like,” said Deeney in an interview for the club website.

“Obviously the tempo wasn’t to the full capacity, but with the crowd and everything, it was good.

Watford Observer:

“It’s about the tempo and the quality. We played Doncaster and Stevenage, no disrespect to those teams, they helped us out in terms of getting games, but they don’t have the quality they [Palace] have. When we made mistakes, which we did in those games, we got away with it a lot of the time. When you’re in the Prem you don’t get away with it.”

Adding to the intensity of the games will be the expectation of returning supporters, many of whom haven't seen their team play at a stadium since last February.

Deeney is expecting a very tough season when things kick off properly this weekend.

“That’s why I think it was good, people got to see a dose of what it’s really like,” he said.

“Next week we’re going to have close to a full capacity and an expectant crowd. You have to get used to that. There’s going to be a few more demands.

“It’s not like last year where we could talk freely. Now there’s going to be fans, you’ve got to speak and deal with the expectation. We’ve got to get ready because let’s be under no illusion, it’s going to be a tough season no matter what.”