Although he is Croatian, Slaven Bilic was always a player who knew what it took to be successful when playing in England.

He has talked a lot in his time at Watford so far about mentality and the approach players take to games from the very first minute.

The need to build momentum which, in turn, increases confidence is something he has said is key to teams being successful, particularly in the Championship.

Having been clearly angry after the defeat (and manner of it) at Blackpool, he was far happier after the performance against Norwich. But is he seeing a longer-term change in attitude?

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“I think it’s still too early to judge the mentality of the players,” he said.

“I saw them yesterday and again today, but it’s too early to say how much the mentality has changed.

“Saturday was a good sign though, and is something we can build on. I still think we are missing that bit of British mentality, the old-fashioned way of doing things. And it is hard to get that mentality without many British players.

“Look at Blackpool – the way they play isn’t because of the colour of their jersey or their stadium or their fans, it’s because they have players who are British and have that mentality. You don’t see many of their players wearing long sleeves!”

Bilic said that the problem in getting players to adopt the right approach isn’t confined to football in Britain.

“The mentality of footballers has changed across the whole world, not just in Britain,” he said.

“It’s the same everywhere. There’s no point thinking back to when I played and saying it was like this or like that.

“What coaches have to do now is to try and get the best mentality they can out of this new breed of players. They are a new generation.”

The head coach explained that he sees his role as being to help his players unlock and fulfil their potential, and enable them to be the best they can.

“With most players I can see they can adapt,” he said.

“My aim is not to try and make Roy Keane out of Louza, Kayembe or Choudhury. There is no point me moaning ‘why can’t you be more like Roy Keane?’

“But what I can do is help them to be the best Imran, the best Edo, the best Hamza. I can help them to be the best version of themselves that they can be. There is always room to work on every player in my squad, and that is the biggest part of my job.”