A performance like the one that Watford gave at Preston on Wednesday night posed the question whether the players can do what Tom Cleverley wanted them to do.

And if they can, what is the explanation for such a sub-standard showing?

“The players can do what I’m asking to do, and we’ve seen it time and time again,” said the Watford head coach,

“We are just inconsistent at the minute and those inconsistencies are popping up away from home.

“Is that a mindset thing? Is it the balance of the team? Am I setting us up the wrong way?

“These are all things we will re-evaluate and luckily we have two and a half weeks until our next away performance, and it’s a big one at that.

“But for now we have to work towards a big, big reaction on Saturday.”

That big game Cleverley refers to is the derby at Luton on October 19, the first time the two sides have met since the Hatters humbled Chris Wilder’s Watford 2-0 two seasons ago.

With a match has far more than three points at stake now clearly on the horizon, does Cleverley know what needs to be done to get the Hornets back on track quickly?

“Yes is the answer,” he said.

“We prepare a clear game plan for every single game. Are we executing that perfectly right now? No we aren’t.

“And that is especially the case away from home.”

Dealing with a physical challenge is something Watford are likely to be required to do at Kenilworth Road, and it wasn’t something they handled confidently at Deepdale.

“As a team we need to realise if you do not compete as well as Preston did this evening then you have to show a serious amount of character on the ball,” Cleverley pointed out.

“We didn’t do either of them.”