If ever a player sounded like he had a point to prove, it was Tom Ince after last night’s 5-0 Carabao Cup romp against MK Dons.

Not only was it his first full 90 minutes for Watford since joining the club last summer, but he also scored a hat-trick – giving him more goals in one night than in the whole of the 23/24 campaign.

Ince wasn’t profligate in front of goal last season though. He only played a total of 868 league and cup minutes, and was selected as a starter just eight times.

Many felt he may be heading for pastures new this summer, but instead he was a regular starter in pre-season and was picked in the XI last night for the first time since February 24.

“I just want to try and perform for this club and for the team,” he said, clutching the matchball.

“It was tough for me last year because I felt I didn’t really get the opportunities.

“Last season was frustrating on a personal level because I felt like I could offer a bit to the team but the opportunity wasn’t given to me.

“But before the new season the manager spoke to me and said with your experience and your goalscoring record at this level you can be a vital part of things.

“So hopefully I’ll get more involved in games this season and help the team.”

A one-in-three scorer for the likes of Derby and Blackpool, Ince has also been a regular contributor of assists during his career, averaging one every six games.

However, he’s aware that with age comes the need to do things slightly differently even though his years of experience will never change.

“I’ve been around the block a lot of times and I know what it takes in the Championship to score goals and win games,” he said.

“We have a talented squad but all I can do, when given the opportunity, is to try and do well and score goals.

“I think I got eight starts last season, so now it’s about building momentum and knocking on Clevs’ door, and then being ready when given the chance.

“All I can do is try to perform like I did tonight, score goals and offer my experience to the team.

“When you get past the age of 30 you know it slightly changes but I still feel as fit as ever and tonight showed I can be a threat.

“So I just want to do well for the club and help us to do better than we did last year.”

Six attempts at goal, four of which were on target, and an 89% pass success rate showed there is plenty of life left in that particular old dog!

“The days of me being a fast, tricky winger are probably behind me, but I’ve still got the knowledge and intelligence to take up good positions.

“I’ve always felt I can be a goal threat, I’ve just had to change my game slightly but the way we play and with Clevs wanting us to be on the front foot means we get chances to score goals.

“It’s a great feeling personally to get a hat-trick but now I’ve got to try and be involved in the games coming up, and when I am I need to try and make a difference.”

The key to Ince looking more like an integral part of the squad has been Cleverley deploying him as a No.10 in the 3-4-2-1 formation.

“Before I came here I played in that No.8/No.10 role at Reading, and I got 10 goals and six assists,” said Ince.

“Last season, under the previous manager, I felt I wasn’t given the opportunity to be involved.

“But I have to move on from that. It’s a new season and a new start.

“In that No.10 role I feel like I’m involved in the game more, and I think as you get older you have to adapt your game.”

While beating a League Two side at home could be looked at as something expected of a Championship side, it hasn’t been a feat Watford have found easy to do in recent seasons.

“They’re always tricky these cup games, especially against lower league teams,” Ince pointed out.

“You have to make sure the mentality is right, go out there and be professional.

“It was a dominant performance, except for maybe 10 or 15 minutes at the start of the second half.

“It was a comfortably win and I felt it was fully deserved.”

The 32-year-old highlighted the differences that his head coach, just three years his senior, has made.

“Clevs has come in and instilled a bit of positive mentality into everyone, and it’s been a fresh start for everyone.

“We had the well-fought win against Millwall on Saturday, and then it’s about continuing that because our home form needs to be better this year.

“Last season we had six league wins at home, and that’s not good enough.

“Tonight was the first of three home games and we have to try and make this place a bit of a fortress.

“You couldn’t ask for a better start than tonight to build a bit of confidence and get the fans excited.”

Looking at his goals, the first was a superb move started with a ball over the top from Imran Louza which was controlled magnificently on his chest at speed by Ryan Andrews, who then teed Ince up with a low square pass.

“It was a brilliant move, and something we’ve been working on in training all through pre-season,” Ince explained.

“We’ve got Ryan Andrews who has that electric pace, and his first touch on that goal tonight just shows he’s got that all-round game.

“I know I can drop inside and he can use the width. For me it’s then just about making it into a good position in the box.

“To be fair, I said to him at half-time if he’d not squared the ball and had a shot and missed instead, he knew what was coming!

“I think he saw me out the corner of his eye, knew it was an old head and thought I don’t fancy seeing Incey’s bad side if I miss this!”

Gola number two was all about taking a chance to shoot when presented with one, even if MK Dons keeper Nathan Harness did get the assist.

“I caught it really sweet, in fact I probably caught it too well,” said Ince.

“I saw the keeper go down to save it and then he parried it up in the air and I thought it had gone out.

“But then I saw it hit the side of the net, and it’s one of those where it was a mistake from the keeper but a goals a goal and I’ll take it.”

The treble was completed when Ince showed that poacher’s instinct which put him in the right place at the right time to convert from close range after Harness had parried Tom Dele-Bashiru’s shot.

“I was pleased with the first and third of my goals because that has been what I’m all about, those sort of poacher goals.

“Being where I was for the third goal comes from the position I’m playing in.

“You become a sort of second striker and when shots come in you have to have that intelligence to have an idea of where the ball will drop.

“I gambled when Tom had the shot, and the keeper parried it and I was there to tap it in.

“To me, those goals are just as good as 25-yarders that fly in the top bins.

“It’s a great confidence boost, and now I have to take this into the games ahead.”

Watford’s two No.10s that started game were at opposite ends of their careers: Ince with in excess of 500 senior career appearances and more than 37,000 minutes of football on the clock, and 19-year-old Rocco Vata making his debut after joining from Celtic in the summer.

“The boy has got a lot of talent,” said Ince.

“He’s got a lot of things to learn because this is his first, proper professional spell with the first team, and there’s the expectation that coming here brings.

“So he has things to learn but he also has bags of talent, and it’s about harnessing that.

“When you’re young you are often so exuberant and sometimes it’s about gaining that bit of knowledge.

“He can learn off other players. It’s not just me, he’s got Ken Sema and other senior players.”

As an elder statesman of the squad, Ince is well placed to talk about the young whippersnappers breaking into the first team.

“We have a lot of young talent at the club. You see young Leo Ramirez-Espain come on the pitch, Kwadwo Baah got his goal, Mamadou Doumbia – there is a lot of talent.

“They will have to lean on the experience of the older players, because there will be times during the season where it’s going to be tough.

“But there will also be times where the team needs that youth and that bit of pace and energy, and where their age means they play with no fear.

“We have bags of talent, we’ve had two great wins, but we also know it’s a long season.”