Bilic says Watford are going to have 'a serious team'

That was the assessment of head coach Slaven Bilic after he saw his side beat former joint Championship leaders Norwich 2-1 at Vicarage Road.

The Hornets had Craig Cathcart back in defence and Joao Pedro returned to action as a substitute, but with the likes of Kortney Hause, Francisco Sierralta and Mario Gaspar still sidelined the depth of the squad is being tested.

However, Bilic said tonight was a sign of better things to come, especially when players begin to return, and he and his staff have more time to increase the intensity of training.

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Match report - Watford 2 Norwich 1

“I told you, when we raise the level of fitness this is what you get,” he said.

“Look at Joao Pedro. He is amazing. An amazing player. You see that straight away. But he lacks that 10% of explosive energy, that sharpness – and that’s because he hasn’t trained properly for a few weeks now.

“But when players like him get into a shape they should be in – and it’s our job to get them there – then we’re going to have some team.

“And you’ve still got players to come back from injury too. We are going to have a serious team.

“Last week we had lack of desire, lack of confidence, lack of being on the front foot, lack of the right mentality. So much is in the head, but we are also lacking in fitness. I said that to the players.

“You could see that tonight after 70 minutes when we started to drop. The desire was still there and they still wanted to do all the right things, but we were doing it a bit slower.

“We are lacking that little bit of fitness. It’s not necessarily the way you train, it’s the whole package. It’s the commitment when you’re there, the days off you need, the rest time used well to come back in good shape.”

Watford started the game arguably more positively than any other this season.

“The way we started the game and being on the front foot from the start was what pleased me the most,” said Bilic.

“It’s a drop in the ocean in terms of a whole season, but then again you have to use this to be the blueprint for what you need to do in order to be in this position against a really good team.

“Norwich are a team who were with us in the Premier League last season. They are a team that before today was joint top of the table. So with the greatest respect, and you have to respect all opponents, don’t go out lacking confidence against anyone.

“The intensity was basically great. It was like the game we had been waiting for, like a cup final. From the start we were so front-footed, on and off the ball. We stretched them, we were always trying to be positive. Our first touch was always looking to move the ball forward. Our first thought wasn’t to pass it back or go square, it was to move forward.

“When we got the ball in good situations in their half, the players were looking to get one against one and attack.

“The only bad thing about the first half was the score. It was positive but from my point of view we should have been leading 3-0 or even 4-0. It should have been 3-0, it could have been 4-0.”

The response to Norwich scoring right on the stroke of half-time also pleased the head coach.

“Last week we conceded the second goal and straight away everyone was down,” he said.

“Tonight we conceded a goal at a really bad time and they went into half time on a high, but we didn’t let that affect us. It didn’t affect our second-half performance. We were still brave and we wanted to play and we wanted to get forward in numbers right up until the last 10 minutes or so.

“In the second half I was pleased because when we suffered, we suffered together. We could have hurt them more but overall I’m very, very happy.

“I told you that last week was the first chance for us to work a little bit on intensity and maybe it’s coincidence - but for me it’s not – but the intensity of the performance today was very good.

“It was a good evening for us. I didn’t like the league table before the game, I still don’t like it much but we were really determined to have a proper go tonight.”

After angry scenes at the end of last week’s game at Blackpool, the final whistle was greeted far more happily as the Hornets recorded their first home win on a Saturday for 11 months.

“The crowd love their club,” said Bilic.

“On one hand the result means everything, but on the other they want to see their team fighting, trying to play progressively, trying to hurt the opponents. When they get that, then the crowd is happy. They were really happy tonight I think.”