One of the most pleasing aspects to the excellent start this season has been the sense that the team is truly a collective.

Gone are the days when some players felt inferior and/or able to hide, and there was a sense of ‘give it to Pedro’ or ‘give it to Sarr’.

They are playing like a well-drilled unit now rather than people who looked like they’d never met before, and some of whom wanted to take no responsibility.

“I don’t think you can accuse us of being a team of individuals anymore,” Tom Cleverley agreed.

“It feels like we have reconnected with the supporters and we’re a group that are giving everything for the badge, and there is no finger-pointing within the squad.

“We react to mistakes with good body language and that has been the result of a lot of hard work.

“I don’t take things for granted though.

“It’s something I don’t do, and it’s something I won’t let the staff or the players do either.

“It’s been a good start and what has pleased me the most is the environment we have because there will be setbacks, and so we will need to keep the positive environment going.

“It’s easy to be positive when you’ve won five out of five.

“If we can build this feel-good environment that becomes a bullet-proof environment then I think that gives you a real good chance.”

The team that was on the pitch at the end of the cup win over Plymouth was very young, and the Hornets have used the transfer window to increase the amount of youth within the squad.

“It’s an exciting group to work with, and it’s what we’re about as a football club,” said Cleverley.

“It’s my job to get short-term results and it always will be, but as well as that we want to develop young players.

“We’ve had so much success with the likes of Joao Pedro and Yaser Asprilla, and now we have our next batch coming through and I’m excited to work with them every day.”

However, the head coach is also well aware that even the best young pupils need great teachers, and that can’t just come from the coaches.

“You cannot have a group of young players with no guidance.

“Ultimately that guidance comes from me and my staff, but you have to have some from within as well.

“So people like Dan Bachmann, Moussa Sissoko, Angelo Ogbonna and, among the younger players, Mattie Pollock is very much a leader.

“They are pivotal to us, not only guiding us through difficult patches on the pitch but also off the pitch.

“The way they live their lives is a constant example to our younger players.

“My job is to develop players, but ultimately everyone including the fans wants to see short-term results, and so these guys are essential to that.”