Watford sit top of the early-season Championship table tonight after displaying plenty of character, grit and desire to hold on with ten men and beat Burnley 1-0.

Captain and birthday boy Tom Cleverley scored what proved to be the winner in first-half injury time, but the Clarets improved after the break and were already getting an upper hand before Hassane Kamara was dismissed with ten minutes remaining for denying a clear goalscoring opportunity.

Daniel Bachmann had already made two good saves before then and he was to excel again, keeping out Josh Brownhill’s resultant free-kick in superb fashion while the crossbar also came to the Hornets’ rescue as the Clarets kept pushing until the final whistle.

Watford continue to have areas to improve upon, particularly with their creativity from midfield, but their effort and desire to see the job through again impressed as they took their tally to seven points from their opening three matches.

With Emmanuel Dennis set to complete a move to Nottingham Forest, Rob Edwards gave a debut to new loan signing Hamza Choudhury and switched to a 4-3-3 formation.

But a first half largely devoid of meaningful attacking opportunities for either side looked set to end goalless until Watford produced some quality in injury time.

Ken Sema combined neatly with Ismaila Sarr on the right to get in behind the Clarets’ defence where he pulled the ball back towards the penalty spot for Cleverley to side-foot past the wrong-footed Arijanet Muric.

However, the Hornets’ captain’s celebrations on his 33rd birthday were curtailed by injury and he had to be replaced by Dan Gosling at the interval.

It looked like Burnley might equalise seven minutes after the restart when Ian Maatsen released Brownhill in the penalty area, but Bachmann was equal to it, saving very well with his legs.

The Clarets continued to search for an equaliser but they had to wait until the 71st minute when Maatsen’s deep cross from the left again picked out Brownhill, this time coming in unmarked beyond the far post, and again his first-time effort was unable to get the better of Bachmann.

Kamara’s dismissal gave the Clarets further hope they could get something from the game, but Bachmann still refused to be beaten as he superbly clawed away Brownhill’s free-kick following the red card.

The Watford keeper was to make even better save after to keep out another Burnley effort, although it wouldn’t have counted due to offside, but Brownhill must have known it wouldn’t be his night when he saw another attempt rebound off the bar.

The final whistle was greeted with a roar by the home faithful, partly out of relief but also in recognition of the effort their side had put in to seal the three points.

Watford: Bachmann; Gaspar, Cathcart, Sierralta, Kamara; Cleverley (Gosling 46), Choudhury (Kabasele 81), Kayembe, Sarr (Bayo 64), Pedro (Asprilla 79), Sema. Subs not used: Hamer, Ngakia, Manaj.

Burnley: Muric; Roberts, Harwood-Bellis, Taylor, Maatsen; Benson (Tella 62), Brownhill, Cullen (McNally 90), Bastien (Vitinho 74); Costelloe (Cork 46), Barnes (Rodriguez 62). Subs not used: Peacock-Farrell, Egan-Riley.