Stand face to face with Mattie Pollock and you feel like you are confronting what would be described as a good, old-fashioned English central defender.

Very tall, muscular, scars on the forehead – and for a while earlier this season, wearing a head bandage after picking up a cut.

Yet Watford fans have also seen another side to Pollock, one that head coach Tom Cleverley was clearly aware of before he took over.

The 23-year-old can play football . . . with his feet. He can carry the ball, he can pass, he can hit diagonals.

He’s not just a stopper. He's a lot more than a nightclub bouncer who throws a slab-like forehead at any ball above chest height, and often lower than that.

However, because so many people judge a book by its cover, Pollock knows people have preconceived ideas about him.

“I think that does happen sometimes, yeah, and I probably don’t help myself because I’m a bit daft and I go diving in for headers,” he said, in accent that shows he was brought up in Middlesbrough despite actually being born in Surrey.

“But since Clevs has come in he’s worked hard with me on the ball.

“When I started playing I was in midfield, so I haven’t been a centre-half all my life. I can play a bit.

“What the manager has done is helped me become more composed on the ball, to where I feel I can take a few more risks and have a bit more belief in doing things when I have the ball.

“I’ve chucked in a couple of assists now and I’m probably playing the best football of my life in terms of on the ball.

“So I am trying to change that narrative  . . . but I’ve also got a skinhead, I’m 6ft 3ins and I’m from Middlesbrough!”

Despite confessing to not feeling much pain – “certainly from the neck up” – Pollock is a gentle giant who has no problem showing his feelings and emotions.

Take being made captain for the Carabao Cup tie against MK Dons earlier this season.

“That was unbelievable, and I know people might think that sounds sound soft but it really was.

“It really is a dream come true to captain a team like Watford.

“Going out on the pitch, wearing the armband and leading the team for the game against MK Dons was amazing, and I finished the game against Middlesbrough with the armband too.

“It’s incredible for me, and having so many big leaders and characters at the club now means I am always learning off them.

“Captaining the team was something I never really believed I’d achieve at Watford when you look at some of the players we have.”

(Image: Alan Palmer)

His Dad, former pro Jamie Pollock, shared his joy.

“He comes to all the games, and he captained Manchester City so he knows how proud I felt.

“As a kid you always say you want to be a professional footballer and be captain, so to have achieved that as a club such as Watford is incredible.”

Pollock is also comfortable talking about disappointments and failures, such as the game at Preston where Watford were dreadful and lost 3-0.

“Yeah, games like that absolutely kill me and the other lads because we know we’ve let ourselves down but, more importantly, we’ve let the manager down and disappointed the fans.

“No team likes getting beat, but it’s the way we got beat that made it so bad.

“There’s nothing much the manager can do. It comes down to us, as players, taking responsibility and showing some b******s away from home.

“Things are good at home: nice pitch, nice stadium, fans with us. But away from home it will always be tougher, and we have to be up for it.

“The manager sets us up in the right way and then we don’t deliver, and that kills.”

Last season, a similarly turgid away defeat at Sunderland led to a dressing room debate and discussion.

Pollock says it was a similar story after the Deepdale debacle.

“We’re a pretty down to earth bunch as a squad of players, and after that Preston game we spoke to each other and said a few home truths.

“Of course you can never be sure, but I feel comfortable in saying I don’t think that will happen again this season.

“It shouldn’t have happened in the first place, but when it did we said a few things to each other that should make sure we don’t do that again.”

Although they are sitting sixth in the Championship table, the Hornets only have one clean sheet to their name in the league.

“As a defender I want to keep clean sheets obviously,” said Pollock, “but if you look at the goals we’ve been conceding then I don’t think it’s been a case of teams breaking us down and pulling us apart.

“It’s been a lack of concentration or a mistake.

“They do happen, and I make mistakes, but the goals are being conceded because of things we can fix if we do better.

“The clean sheets will come, I’m sure of that, but we need a bit more concentration.”

The arrival of the vastly-experienced Angelo Ogbonna has helped bring wisdom, nouse and leadership.

“He’s incredible,” smiled Pollock.

“As soon as he signed I couldn’t believe it, and the more time I spend with him the better.

“He is intelligent as a defender and a bit different to me, so I am seeing and learning a different side of the game.

“I think people know I’m aggressive and I like to be on the front foot. He reads stuff so well, sees everything in the second phase and he always looks comfortable.

“He is so calm and relaxed that it’s crazy to be honest! I’m just trying to sponge everything off him.

“Something I’ve tried do through my career is learn off other players, and he is an unbelievably good player who has had a great career.

“He’s a great person too, a great lad, and I love playing beside him.

“He’s constantly talking to the rest of us through the game, and then you’ve got good voices like Bondy or Dan behind us.

“We are a group of players with a real mix of characters. Some are outspoken, some are more calm, and Ange has been a brilliant addition.”

• In part two of this exclusive interview, Mattie Pollock reveals he had completed a deal to leave Watford permanently in January, but didn’t really want to go and was glad that it fell through.