Some subtle changes at half-time saw Watford shake off a lack-lustre first-half to dominate the second 45 minutes and beat Oxford 1-0 at Vicarage Road.

Tom Cleverley said he wanted to make more use of Kwadwo Baah and hailed a stellar performance from Giorgi Chakvetadze.

“We made a tactical tweak at half-time which meant Imran could control the game a little more, and we moved Edo a bit higher which meant Baah could become more of an attacking presence,” said the Watford head coach.

“I thought that worked well for us.

“I felt in the first half we weren’t utilising Baah as well as we could have done, so we moved Edo a bit higher up the pitch because we felt Imran could control the game by himself in there.

“The players took the information on board really well, and went out there and delivered it.”

Watford should have been out of sight before the visitors made life uncomfortable in the closing stages, a period which Cleverley felt saw the Vicarage Road fans come into their own.

“I felt we had chance after chance in the second half, and then our supporters got us through the difficult period at the end and our flat moments in the game,” he said.

“The players are exhausted in the dressing room because of the demands of this week, and I felt the supporters dragged us through.

“I thought for 35 minutes of the second half we were outstanding and it was a performance that deserved a bigger lead.

“It was real control and one-way traffic, but there were one or two moments where we didn’t manage the game as well as we could and some decisions went against us.

“That meant they had some dangerous box entries towards the end and it was a bit all hands to the pump.

“In the end I don’t think anyone could have any complaints about the result though.”

Chakvetadze was voted man of the match on Sky Sports, and once again gave an opposing defence a truly torrid time.

“I thought in the second half that was some of the best football that we’ve played and Giorgi was at the heart of everything,” said Cleverley.

“It’s a joy to be up close to Giorgi when he’s in full flow like that.”

The main negative was that it took Watford until the second half to click into gear.

“There seems to be a bit of a habit of ours, where in the first half of games we start a bit slow,” admitted Cleverley.

“It’s a little more understandable with this being the third game in six days, and we started the game a bit flat but then as the finishing line comes into sight everyone ramps it up a little bit.”