Having done what was required to get points at the end of last season, the new campaign will allow head coach Tom Cleverley to adopt the formation, mindset and tactics he believes in rather than those he needs.

Last night at Boreham Wood, we were given the first public airing of his approach, though any pre-season game comes with the usual caveats that it was a training exercise which saw Watford make 10 changes during the match and use some of their younger players throughout.

And the opponents are now a tier lower in the footballing pyramid than they were 12 months ago when Valerien Ismael’s side drew 0-0 at Meadow Park, following their relegation from the National League.

Notwithstanding all that, it was a promising if not polished display from the Hornets who bossed possession and created nearly all the openings – although but for a missed penalty from the home side (that was harshly awarded in the extreme) it could have been another stalemate.

The overall positive was a clear purpose to Watford’s play, and a crisp effectiveness to their work.

Like last season – and as is de rigueur these days – they like to retain possession of the ball, but the subtle difference to what we saw for much of last season is that Cleverley has seemingly got them doing so while being far more keen and able to go forward rather than sideways.

They also looked comfortable retaining possession in the opposition half, as if the largest change the head coach has introduced is to shift everything the team does 20 yards further up the pitch.

As he suggested earlier in the summer, it’s 3-4-2-1 as a formation, and if one thing last night highlighted it was that this formation works better and is more cogent with a mobile No.9.

In the first half, Mileta Rajovic led the line, and while he has the ability to hold the ball up, his strength isn’t then quickly laying it off and spinning into space.

In the second half, Kwadwo Baah played in the No.9 position, and he was more able to do the latter, which in turn allowed the two No.10s to more effectively get around him and operate in spaces he created.

In the first 20 minutes after the break the Hornets carved out half a dozen decent chances and looked as if they had moved up a gear.

Neither Yaser Asprilla or Giorgi Chakvetadze were in attendance last night, and nor was Rocco Vata – but there we have a trio of players whose biggest threat in this formation will be as No.10s sitting in behind the main striker.

It would be a travesty if Watford have all three on the first day of the season, but not the No.9 they need to truly unlock what Cleverley is attempting to do.

In the first half Tom Dele-Bashiru played in the No.6 role, and everything went through him. He was the conductor of the orchestra, the fulcrum of the machine.

He sat deep, regularly taking the ball off the back three and then either progressing in possession or getting his head up and shifting the ball forward with a pass.

He rarely went beyond his midfield partner, the impressive youngster Leo Ramirez-Espain, and so when he got the ball he usually had most of the pitch – and his teammates – in front of him, giving him a clear picture.

In the second half, Imran Louza and Edo Kayembe played in the two central roles, and they operated with far more interchanging of position.

Louza was generally deeper, but he would also carry the ball beyond Kayembe, who then sat back to allow the Moroccan to push on.

It was perhaps a sign of how Cleverley is happy for his central two to work – one sitting deeper and pulling the strings while the other is more rampaging, but also allowing the pair to decide between themselves.

Certainly it will be interesting to see Moussa Sissoko – who was also absent last night – given licence to drive at opponents with someone like Dele-Bashiru offering cover and vision behind him.

What is clear in the system Cleverley is using is that he will need a two very athletic wing-backs.

They provide all the width and although one of the three defenders can cover behind them, and either of the No.10s can get ahead of them, the wing-backs still have an awful lot of ground to cover.

That plays to the strengths of Ryan Andrews, who we all know has the athleticism and pace to do that job on the right.

He also spoke last season of needing to have the intelligence to know when to suddenly burst forward and when not to, as even the fittest of all cannot keep surging 50 yards forward and then the same distance back.

It’s possibly not a role that naturally suits James Morris on the left, who is more of a traditional full-back, and in the second half Ken Sema played there and showed he can do the job.

Nonetheless, while it might be deemed a luxury with two left-footers who can play there, another left-sided wing-back option would certainly be worth considering.

One player that caught the eye – and not just because we’ve rarely seen him in the last 12 months – was Tom Ince, who thrived on playing in the No.10 role in the first half, and looked a totally different player to the one who struggled to make an impression last season.

That he should have ended the half with at least one goal is a sign that he got himself into great positions and maybe deploying him centrally behind a striker will make him more of an asset.

In the second half, Jack Grieves also showed he can operate successfully as a No.10, tucking away the winning goal with predatory instinct but also popping up in spaces either side of Baah and regularly getting onto the ball just inside or outside the edge of the box.

The one new face, and the only player to see out the full 90, was defender Antonio Tikvic.

The Udinese player hasn’t signed for Watford but has been training with them, and last night got the chance to play the entire game on the left side of the back three.

Very tall and athletic, being left-footed and a player of Watford’s sister club all count in his favour. However, he has played just one minute of Serie A football and, of the 24 career appearances he has made, 75% of them have been for Bayern Munich’s B team.

That doesn’t mean he’s not an accomplished player, but whether he’s ready right now for the physical and footballing demands of the Championship wasn’t readily clear last night.

Therefore, adding a left-footed defender appears to be a must, as it has been for some time.

The game itself followed a very similar pattern to last season, with Watford having long spells of possession.

Inside the first quarter of an hour Ince saw one low shot whistle just wide before Wood keeper Nathan Ashmore got down well to tip another one around the upright.

The clearest chance of the first half also provided more weight to the argument that the club needs to provide Cleverley with a finisher.

Ince split the home defence allowing Andrews to burst onto the ball on the right of the box. His drag-back ran perfectly into the path of Vakoun Bayo, who almost cleared the stand behind the goal with a ballooned effort.

Ince met a Tikvic cross with a hooked shot over the top before Wes Hoedt stepped forward with one of those ‘let me have a go’ piledrivers we’ve become accustomed to, an effort that Ashmore was forced to push over the bar.

Ince will know he should have been more clinical in the 35th minute when he connected with a Rajovic pass but put it wide, and three minutes later a fine run and pass from Dele-Bashiru enabled Ramirez-Espain to force another sprawling save from Ashmore.

Watford made seven changes at the interval, and scored the only goal four minutes after the restart.

It was the sort of attack which the system Cleverley is playing will produce, as the ball was worked forward centrally and then shifted left in the box for Morris to stride onto it and hit a shot.

Ashmore managed to block but Grieves was on hand to slot home the loose ball.

It was a very purposeful spell for Watford in the first 20 minutes of the second half, and Grieves so nearly added another two minutes when he fired just wide after a pass from Baah.

The home side posted their first goal attempt after 52 minutes but it was a comfortable save for Jonathan Bond from one of the triallists, before Shaq Forde turned really smartly midway inside the Wood half and then strode forward before shooting wide.

Forde went close again with a curling effort that Ashmore tipped wide, and he then combined with Grieves to create a shooting chance from 20 yards that Louza sent just the wrong side of the post.

Michael Adu-Poku attacked as the home defence backed off in the 64th minute and then shifted the ball left to Louza, whose curling effort had to be palmed away by Ashmore.

Three minutes later referee Mr Rock decided that Pollock had handled a ball driven at him with force from extremely close range, and awarded a penalty.

However, justice was done when the triallist sent Bond the wrong way but saw his spot-kick come back off the post.

Baah chased down a back-pass and got there before Ashmore but, on the stretch, could only poke the ball wide, and he then ran onto a pass from Louza in the box but lashed his shot high and wide.

The home side’s only other real chance came when Mohammed Sagaf saw a shot deflected and bounce just wide in the 81st minute.

Grieves forced Ashmore to smother a shot at the base of the post, and he could easily have ended the night with a second goal with three minutes left.

A delicious pass from Louza released Sema and his low cross was deflected into the path of Grieves who didn’t get a clean connection which allowed Ashmore to dive and push it wide.

Watford: Bachmann; Tikvic, Clarridge, Hoedt; Andrews, Dele-Bashiru, Ramirez-Espain, Morris; Ince, Bayo; Rajovic. Subs: Bond, Pollock, Louza, Kayembe, Grieves, Baah and Forde for Bachmann, Hoedt, Dele-Bashiru, Ince, Ramirez-Espain, Bayo and Rajovic all at half-time; Sema, Morris and Adu-Poku for Morris, Andrews and Clarridge.