Having watched his Watford team rip Preston North End apart in the second half and send the home supporters heading for the exits well before the end of the game, Valerien Ismael summed up the performance with five words that Hornets fans would underline.

“That is what we want,” he said.

The head coach has, throughout his time at the club, talked about an evolutionary building process that is incremental, with Watford adding layer upon layer.

Attitude, mentality, fitness, tactics – they have all been addressed since the summer in a patient but methodical manner.

There has been distinct acceleration in all areas since the midweek defeat at Sunderland, and as a consequence performances and results have improved.

Yesterday’s win made it six wins and four draws in the last 12 games – and the only two defeats suffered in that period have come against the sides sitting first and second in the table.

With the bigger building blocks in place, Ismael has more recently talked about some of the finer details: getting shots on target, being more ruthless, converting good play into goals.

“I think that in our evolution over the last six months, then today . . . that is what we want,” he said afterwards.

“We explained to the players after the Ipswich game that we are now almost halfway through the season, and what we had next with Preston and Blackburn and Bristol City were very typical Championship games.

“They are games where we would have to be very solid and we knew that we were ready.

“The big ‘but’ was could we make the next step and start to be ruthless?

“In previous games we have had so many chances to score, whether that was to put us in front or to bring us back into a game. We weren’t taking them.

“Today, especially in the second half, the shots were on target and good, and that makes us look completely different.

“We have another level of energy and it gave the players a big lift.”

Another of the finer details Ismael discussed, particularly after the home defeat to Ipswich, was the need to stay calm when entering the final third.

He thought Watford did well against Ipswich to get into good positions, but then rushed or panicked and didn’t make the most of their hard work.

“When you score goals, you get confidence, and that is what I said to the boys after the game against Ipswich,” he said.

“We were hectic in and around the box against Ipswich, but today once we had scored the second goal we became calm and composed.

“You suddenly have a better overview, you have better decision making and then it’s all about the finishing.”

The first half saw Watford trade blows with the home side and create a number of very good openings, but they fell behind and had to fight their way back into the game.

“At half-time I said we were playing a good away game, but you have to be ruthless guys,” Ismael said.

“We are getting chances but we have to score goals, as that will force the opponents to defend, and it also puts doubt in their minds.

“You saw it perfectly in the second half. We scored one and two goals straight away, and suddenly the momentum changes.

“The belief in our opponent goes down, our belief is increased and then you score four and five and it’s game over.

“I’m very pleased at the understanding the players have shown of what it means to be ruthless.

“Everyone is ready to move forward and make the next step, and that begins by raising the level of your own performance.

“Now it is all about consistency and staying at this level.

“We have shown we can do it but it is always about the finer details, and that includes showing killer instinct like we did today.”