The win over Sunderland was made all the more likely when Watford didn’t concede early and, instead, took the lead themselves.

It sounds patently obvious that a combination of the two should make the chances of three points that much higher, but having shipped an early goal in each of their last four Championship fixtures it was something that couldn’t be taken for granted.

“I just think we valued our defensive actions,” Tom Cleverley said afterwards.

“We put real pride into not being beaten one v one, winning duels, being in the right position, staying focussed defensively.

“Naturally if you do all those things really professional you will build into the game.

“I don’t think we’ve been doing that recently.”

The Watford boss admitted to being a little relieved when 10 minutes ticked past and there was still a zero against Sunderland’s name on the giant screens.

“Yeah, I was. You try not to be negative and just protect yourselves for the first 10 minutes, but it was a milestone,” he reflected.

“It was a small win for us, but then the disappointment is conceding three minutes into the second half.

“So it’s still a little bit of an issue.

“But I thought defensively in the main we were excellent today and our structure was good, and we limited a top team to very little.”

The Watford head coach felt it was a game similar to the recent draw with Coventry at Vicarage Road, except with the roles reversed.

“Again it was a little bit of a tale of two halves,” he commented.

“I thought we were excellent in the first half and then had to absorb a little bit of pressure in the second half without conceding too many big chances.

“We showed real character at the end as well.

“In football it is hard to swing momentum, so when you go 1-0 up and are dominant, but then concede and they gain momentum, it’s really difficult to get it to swing back in your favour.

“I think Baah deserves a lot of credit for doing that, and the supporters deserve a lot of credit for getting us over the line.

“It was a performance full of character and we’re 10 unbeaten here now, and it’s become a place where even when we don’t play well we’re getting the job done.”

Having gone a goal up, the Hornets could easily have enjoyed a healthier lead at half-time.

“You strip it back and we had the big chances to go 2-0 up with Bayo’s header and then Moussa breaking through and squaring it.

“You always want to kick on and be as assertive as we were against Stoke, but Sunderland are a good side.

“They’re one of the best pass-and-move sides I’ve seen, with rotations and with young players who can take the ball.

“We saw that at the end of last season, and it was a similar sort of performance from them today, particularly the way they dominated the ball in the second half.

“I think we limited them to far less clear-cut chances today.”