Ryan Andrews has played only 77 minutes of Watford’s last four games, which had led some to questioning whether there was more at play simply than giving the England Under-20 international a breather.

It was only in April 2023 that Andrews truly broke into the team, starting the final six games of the 22/23 campaign.

This season he has played either as a starter or from the bench in 31 of the 37 Watford games, and four of those he missed were due to suspension – only twice has he been part of the 18-man squad and not got onto the pitch.

However the last time he started was on February 3 against Cardiff, and after his fourth consecutive game on the bench I asked Valerien Ismael if there was any else that was behind that decision.

“No, there is nothing else,” he said.

“He is not performing like we expected, it’s simple. If someone isn’t performing then you ask why, what is the problem?

“If you see the data and the numbers, from the beginning of the season to now Ryan’s numbers have dropped in terms of distance by between 1km and 2km per game.

“So it’s a clear sign of tiredness or injury.

“We asked him if he was injured, he said no but he felt tired.

“So we just had to let him recover, and I think today Tom Dele-Bashiru did his job well again.

“He made some good tactical decisions and he has grown up in the position, and that has given time for Ryan to recover properly.

“At some point it is clear we will need Ryan like all the players. We need them to be 100% and we try to protect them.”

Interestingly, last season another youngster – Yaser Asprilla – made 39 appearances but 23 of those were from the bench.

This season his ratio of starts in higher: 18 out of 34 appearances. And on Saturday he showed the one moment of class that won the game.

“We knew that Yaser is a player who has learned a lot this season. I think he has made the next step,” said Ismael.

“He is ready now to have an impact on games and to help us. I am very pleased for him.”