When Watford were paired with Plymouth Argyle in Tuesday’s night draw for the second round of the Carabao Cup, there would have been many club staff and fans just grateful it was a home game.

The second-round ties will be played in the week commencing August 26, wedged between two league games either weekend.

Watford are at home to Derby the Saturday before, whereas Wayne Rooney’s men face a trip to QPR a few days before heading back in roughly the same direction to Vicarage Road.

“That’s obviously a game we’re delighted is at home,” admitted head coach Tom Cleverley.

“A midweek game like that can knock your week out of sync if you are making a long journey.

“Plus it’s another opportunity for us to create a real feel-good factor at home, and I’m reunited with an old teammate.”

That old teammate is none other than Manchester United’s all-time top scorer Wayne Rooney, who also netted 53 times in 120 games for England.

The pair played together 55 times for United and a further eight times for their country, and they won the Premier League in 2012/13.

“We’re in a WhatsApp group together with a few other old teammates, and that fire was stoked a little bit when the draw was made,” Cleverley smiled.

“With him and Michael Carrick I’ll be facing a couple of old teammates this season.

“It’s quite a common thing, and Pep Guardiola is another, where really senior figures in world management like Sir Alex Ferguson have a lot of players who go on to be coaches, head coaches and managers.

“There are a quite of Sir Alex’s knocking about.”

The cup tie with Plymouth will be the fourth Watford home game in a row, something that hasn’t occurred since 2007.

“What a great opportunity to go from one type of mindset of playing at home to another,” the Watford boss pointed out.

“That takes work and high standards, so that even when you are winning you maintain those high standards.

“It’s my job to be demanding and intense because that is the environment I want to create.”