No team in the Championship has drawn less games than Watford this season, which means the Hornets do run the risk of becoming an all or nothing team.
They have only shared the points once so far this, against Coventry at Vicarage Road in September.
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Their seven league victories are only bettered by the top three in the table, but six defeats is more than any other team in the top half.
Further, the 22 goals they have conceded in 14 league fixtures is more than all but four of the other 23 clubs – and three of those are in the relegation places.
“We want to be entertaining, but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want our defensive record to get better,” said Tom Cleverley.
“In the games where we’re not at the races, we want to be picking up draws and not losing.
“But it’s certainly a mentality at home where if we’re drawing a game we will be taking more risks than usual to try and win it.
“We’ve probably kept that mentality a bit too much away from home and been punished for it.
“You can win two and lose two, and have a better points tally than drawing four.
“It’s paid off so far but we want to improve to where our less-good performances are draws.
“I’m not sure how sustainable it is where performances are all or nothing.”
Any discussion about results so far this season inevitably lead back to the c-word: consistency.
“We need to find a more consistent level which means we are much harder to beat, especially on the road,” said Cleverley.
“That is our problem: consistency of performance.”
Do any reasons for the rollercoaster nature of the campaign so far readily spring to mind?
“When we recruit players here we like matchwinners and exciting, maverick players, and sometimes that can have inconsistencies which come with it,” said Cleverley.
“It’s important for those players to understand that if they want to get to the highest levels they have to produce those exciting performances week in, week out.”
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