While the result and the manner in which it unfolded was a bit of a disappointment, the actual scoreline in friendlies mean far less than the signs and indicators you see on the pitch.

In that respect, there was plenty to feel positive about in the 2-2 draw with Stevenage on Saturday.

If are inclined to be more negative, just ask yourself if Sunderland fans are fearing the worst because they lost 2-1 at non-league Gateshead on Saturday.

The main feeling for me as I left the Lamex was progress – from what Watford served up for a lot of last season to what has been seen in the games at Boreham Wood and Stevenage is a large and significant step forward.

Factor in that, for the first 150 minutes of the three hours in those two friendlies, there had not been a new outfield player involved until Rocco Vata made his first appearance in Watford colours since his move from Celtic, and you see that Tom Cleverley has – in a short time – managed to get the same group of players that so often looked short of ideas and scared to express themselves to slip into a system that has dealt with both those shortcomings.

Bear in mind also that Giorgi Chakvetadze and Ryan Porteous have still to step onto the pitch, Yaser Asprilla isn't home from the Copa America and Moussa Sissoko was watching on from the stands at Stevenage.

Yes, the head coach definitely needs more if he is to be provided with the tools with which to have the Hornets competing at the positive end of the table.

However, Cleverley has always spoken about his confidence in the ability of he and his coaching staff to improve players, and already the evidence is there to back up that claim.

And that is largely because the players who have caught the eye in first two pre-season games are those who probably wouldn’t have made any supporters’ potential XI for the coming season.

It would not be unfair to suggest that Kwadwo Baah had largely been forgotten by many Watford fans, given he has never played a competitive game since being signed from Rochdale as a raw 18-year-old in 2021.

The German Under-19 international was an unused sub three times in the Premier League relegation season, and then spent time on loan with Fortuna Dusseldorf being scoring twice in 21 outings for Burton last term in a loan that was curtailed by a hamstring injury.

Baah showed up well at Boreham Wood, and then was arguably the Hornets best player at Stevenage, emerging with a really well-taken goal and an assist for the penalty.

He’s been played as a winger mostly during his career, but Cleverley has harnessed his pace, strength and ability to turn and run – as was evidenced with the goal – to make him look a viable option as a No.9.

Doubtless the head coach will want to bring in a player in that position, but Baah has looked an exciting prospect having barely been mentioned for two seasons.

With two No.10s operating in pockets and Watford looking to use them as the main source of threat, it’s easy see where the likes of Asprilla, Chakvetadze and Vata could do a lot of damage in this coming season.

However, with only one of them available, Cleverley again deployed Tom Ince in that role, and as he had at Boreham Wood, the experienced forward thrived.

The 32-year-old scored a couple of goals in 27 appearances last season, but started only eight games and was always on the periphery.

In these first two public pre-season games, he has looked a totally different player in that role sat just behind the main striker.

After the game at Stevenage, Cleverley spoke of Ince’s intelligence as being key to why he is looking revived in a different position, and the former Reading man has possibly been the most impressive player across the two games.

Again, he may not be the first choice, but he has shown how he can play a significant role under Cleverley after a season where many felt he had no part to play at all.

When he came on, Vata looked a total livewire. He zipped around all over the place, and when he got on the ball he wanted to take players on and oozed positivity.

Quite understandably, Cleverley has said he wants to give the young forward time to settle in given most of his playing experience has come in Scotland’s Lowland League, but it was an exciting cameo nonetheless.

Another player who has performed well and encouragingly in the two games seen so far is defender Mattie Pollock.

It has been a transformative six months for the 22-year-old who was asking for a transfer in January before coming into the side and starting 10 games.

His strength and competitiveness is a given, but he has shown he can play far more football and is considerably more mobile than he was perhaps given credit for.

Also, it has been noticeable both last season and in these two friendlies that he poses a significant threat in the opposition box. He looks good in the air when defending, but his willingness to attack the ball and go in where it hurts has meant he has been a key figure at set pieces.

Once more the Hornets used their two wing-backs to provide the width, and with the rest of the team quite narrow it meant that there was plenty of space available down both flanks.

Jeremy Ngakia made a welcome return and, provided he stays fit, is clearly going to be vying for a starting berth with Ryan Andrews, whose sheer pace and power is surely a perfect fit with so much space created by the way Cleverley has the team playing in which to use those attributes.

Over on the left, both Ken Sema and James Morris can do a sound job, but it still feels like Cleverley could do with another option there, as the amount of hard yards required in that position coupled with the need to defend and provide attacking threat means it’s a role for a specialist.

With Porteous, Chakvetadze and Sissoko likely to feature at Gillingham on Saturday, there will further opportunity to see the depth and options – but unless a signing is made before then, the No.9 role is still, for my money, the recruitment key to this summer.

Baah provides an option but a combination of his lack of experience in terms of game time and playing in that position means he will need time and coaching.

Mileta Rajovic is a No.9, but possibly not in the sense that Cleverley wants to deploy one. He needs someone able to hold the ball up, but also to lay it off, spin and run in behind, dragging the defenders around to create space for the two No.10s.

Vakoun Bayo may be able to do that to a degree, but the fact he played against Boreham Wood and Stevenage as a No.10 is perhaps an indication that Cleverley feels he cannot do what is required as the main striker.

It is a very, very tricky position to fill. Earlier this summer I highlighted some of the potential loan options given to me by fellow journalists around the country.

One of them, Liam Delap, has left Man City for Ipswich on a five-year deal for £20m while another, Troy Parrott, has moved from Tottenham to AZ Alkmaar for just shy of £7m.

Clearly neither selling club wanted to loan the players out, and there is no way Watford could have afforded either.

Everybody wants a top striker, there aren’t many of them about and when you have a tight budget it narrows your options further.

Imagine Cleverley on the footballing version of Right Move, selecting ‘striker’ but then watching the number of suitable players drop as he uses the filters to pick characteristics, loan, style of play and so on.

As England have just shown with Harry Kane, who can have your country's all-time leading scorer playing at No.9 but it might not suit the overall shape and balance of the team.

It is going to need some excellent creativity behind the scenes to find what Cleverley wants and needs, and the club must work to his script and not simply provide him with what they think he should have.

For now, though, while Watford should have won at Stevenage and failing to deal with second balls for two goals is something that needs addressing, it was a pre-season run-out that gave another 90-minute sighting of what the head coach is doing with the squad – and showed that he can, as he promised, help players improve.

Recent signing Vata was on the bench for the game at the Lamex, but Sissoko was not in the squad although he did watch the game from a couple of rows behind the dug-outs.

Francisco Sierralta came into the starting XI after not featuring at Boreham Wood, while Ngakia was on the bench.

The home side nearly went ahead inside the opening minute but Dan Bachmann did well to block List’s header at the back post.

It was then Watford who broke through, and the goal was all about Baah.

He seized on the ball after his challenge was enough to force Phillips to lose possession in midfield, and Baah then drove into the box before drilling a low shot into the corner.

Bachmann got down to hold a low, fizzing shot from Roberts, and Pollock saw a header from a corner deflected just over the bar.

Watford seemed set to lead at the break but in the last action of the first half a corner was cleared back out to Thompson, he hit a deep cross and Piergianni rose well to loop a header over Bachmann and inside the upright.

A minute after the restart Ince flighted a free-kick towards the back of the box where Pollock met it with a header that was straight at the keeper.

Watford restored their lead in the 49th minute and again Baah had a large part to play.

Released down the left by Bayo, the forward slowed as he moved into the box and then made a burst towards the by-line, sucking in Vancooten whose lunge for the ball upended Baah and referee Mr Rock pointed to the spot.

Imran Louza stepped up and scored with a confident effort into the bottom-left corner.

At the other end Roberts broke into space on the left flank but then sent a low effort across the face of goal and wide of the back post.

On the hour mark both sides made a raft of substitutions – 15 in all – and that killed the game for a good time afterwards.

It got lively, probably more lively than you’d expect in a pre-season friendly, five minutes from the end when Hicks got on the end of a deep cross and stooped to head goalwards.

Jonathan Bond made a good block but the ball ran loose and as he scrambled to smother it, Hicks followed in to try and beat him to it. The two collided, and Wes Hoedt clearly took exception to the challenge and gave the Stevenage player a shove.

That led to some more pushing and jostling, and a crowd of players ended up in something of a minor melee before Mr Rock took time to restore order without needing to show anyone a card, though that would probably not have been the case had it been a competitive fixture.

That looked like being the final action of note but then, as in the first half, the home side netted with the very last touch.

A free-kick was headed clear as far as the edge of the box where Sweeney met it with a beautifully-struck looping volley that went beyond Bond and nestled inside the back post.

Watford: Bachmann (Bond ht); Pollock (Tikvic 60), Sierralta (Clarridge 60), Hoedt; Andrews (Ngakia 60), Dele-Bashiru (Louza ht), Kayembe (Ramirez-Espain 60), Sema (Moriis 60); Ince (Forde 60), Bayo (Vata 60); Baah (Rajovic 60). Subs: Macaulay, Abbot, Eames not used