Four substitutions all at once a little more than 10 minutes into the second half. Is that a first for a competitive Watford game?

Head coach Valerien Ismael was happy to juggle his pack and switch more than a third of his team before the hour-mark, and the media quizzed him about that after the game.

“My feeling was at the end of the first half the energy was not at the level, especially in our press,” he explained.

“We were really good, but at some moments we gave the opponents opportunities to play more.

“They had more possession, especially at the beginning of the second half. We wanted to keep the intensity high in some key positions and to have that freshness in the game.

“I’ve had this experience before making four substitutes in the Championship, and I know that you can have exactly the impact you want.

“It worked, and we created so many chances. But when you are on top you have to score. That can then lift the crowd, and also maybe the players who are tired get energy back.”

Like last season, Watford have kept two consecutive home clean sheets in league games – though this time round with a totally different central defensive pairing.

Wes Hoedt and Ryan Porteous made 132 successful passes between them – the entire Plymouth team only managed 217.

Porteous had a 100% success rate with defensive tackles, while Hoedt won 100% of his aerial duels.

“For sure, we had two great performances from our centre backs today,” said Ismael.

“Out of possession and in possession, we have the quality which we need to use, and we need to keep the ball.

“As long as we can play with the ball then we are more comfortable.

“Everyone needs to step up, from the keeper to the strikers. We attack together, and then we defend all together too.”

Sadly, at the other end, the Hornets drew a blank and perhaps most telling was that only three of their 20 goal attempts were on target.

National journalists asked Ismael if he felt the Hornets needed another striker.

“We have spoken already about this topic throughout the week, and again yesterday,” said the head coach.

“We know what we have to do. Everyone can see and it’s not a secret.

“We are working behind the scenes to get a solution and hopefully we can get our number one target that we need.”

One journalist asked if, after a miss like the one Vakoun Bayo experienced when put through in the second half, a coach has to put an arm round a striker and tell them not to worry.

“We don’t say ‘don’t worry about it’. I think the player knows as well that a number nine gets his money to score goals,” he replied.

“I know that Bayo now is really disappointed. He was disappointed on Tuesday as well when he missed chances.

“But it’s important that we create the chances, and when you do that it's a good thing.

“So it’s keep going, believe in yourself, we believe in you. But at some point it’s clear that you need some support.

“I was completely pleased with his performance because he worked hard for the team, he tried everything, he was tired at the end of the game.

“It will help him to get that fitness and as soon as he gets the rhythm then in a one v one situation he can do better.”