If ever there was a coach/manager in waiting, then surely it is Jake Livermore.

The midfielder shows the same confidence, intelligence, strength and maturity off the pitch as on it, and every time he gives an interview there is a nugget or two in there that make you think.

After the defeat at Ipswich, Livermore spoke calmly and focussed on the positive elements of a frustrating night, and made this observation: “A point away at Hull would probably have been a fair result. A point tonight would have been fair.

“Had both happened, we’d be a point worse off than we actually are.

“We won away at Hull when we might’ve drawn, and we’ve lost tonight, so sometimes it goes for you and sometimes it doesn’t.

“We need to stay positive and keep believing, and we’ll be ready to kick on on Saturday.”

Livermore’s experience at club and international is clearly very helpful in a Watford squad that contains quite a few youngsters.

“The boys are very emotional in the dressing room, but the performance was better than we think and we need to focus on the positives,” he said.

“They’re top of the league now, and we were well in that game until late on. To lose to a mistake shows how far we’ve come.

“We need to reflect on it because there were plenty of positives. We were solid, we had some good chances and we were dangerous from set-pieces.

“It’s quite easy to come in disappointed – and of course you are when you lose – but if you look back at the Leeds game for example, we’ve improved massively since then.

“We were well beaten in that game, and tonight we were well in the game. We just need to reflect on it properly and go again.”

Livermore missed Saturday’s game with Southampton through injury, but there were no ill effects on Tuesday.

“I feel good and fit, and it was a good test,” he said.

“Ipswich set up well and they’re well drilled - I think they’ve kept a lot of the same squad that won them promotion, they’ve got in the habit of winning and they’re playing well.

“I know Kieran McKenna from my youth days at Tottenham and he was always going to go on and be a good coach, which he’s proving now.

“We’re looking forward to Saturday – I think it’s the perfect fixture for us away, at Preston.

“The boys can get really stuck into it, and we’ll try to use the positives from tonight to get back to winning ways.

“Every game is a big challenge in the Championship, which is what makes this league so great.”