Like an office worker suddenly starting to play football twice a week, when a former player spends several months doing a lot of time behind a desk on a laptop and doing paperwork, the tiredness experienced is different.

Clearly footballers use their brains on a pitch, but the demands of a head coach, which include being in an office, are not the same as spending days ‘out on the grass’.

Tom Cleverley admitted the tiredness he has felt since he came back at the start of the summer is very different to that he remembers from a playing pre-season.

“I think it’s a good bit of insight that we as coaches can give that you do get more mentally tired than when you’re playing,” he said.

“The break came on September 1 which was two days after the transfer window closed, and in the weeks leading up to that you give the job everything.

“You’re on the go from June 1 when we started planning pre-season seriously to September 1 when that first international break comes.

“It’s three months without a breather, so it’s been good for us as staff.

“We’re refreshed now, we’ve pressed the reset button and we’re ready to attack the next block of games.”

While the fatigue may be of a different type, the schedule is a familiar one.

“It’s how I’ve lived for the last 16 years of my life,” Cleverley smiled.

“You have a very staggered start to the season, and then winter is relentless, and then you get two more breaks at the back end of the season.

“It’s nothing new to me and the players.”

The Watford boss felt the first international break was timely.

“I thought, having returned on June 17 for a pre-season that was earlier than many of the players have ever had, we then did a big block of work up to September 1.

“The players deserved that bit of rest and I think the break came at the right time.”