Ask Mattie Pollock about his range of passing from the back, and he’ll tell you that he began his career as a midfielder.

Ask him why he changed position, and he’ll have no problem explaining.

“I was so big compared to everyone else and I couldn’t run, so I got pushed back!” laughed the big defender with the thick north-east accent.

“I left school, I didn’t have a club and I beefed up.

“I played a trial game for Grimsby in midfield and I remember it was Neil Woods who pulled me and told me to play the second half in defence.

“So I did and that was it really, and I’ve played centre-half ever since.

“It was probably the best thing that could have happened.

“I was a midfielder until I was about 16 or 17.

“When you’re young and coming through you’re safety first, but as you get older and more confident you take more risks.

“I think that now people are seeing my days in midfield are helping me find passes out from the back.

“I haven’t got the elegance of a midfielder but I think I see passes which is something I took from growing up as a midfielder.”

Pollock has started every Championship match this season, and captained the team in the Carabao Cup.

Yet at the start of the year he looked to be on his way out of Vicarage Road, having registered little more than seven hours of league football in the first 37 games of the 2023/24 season.

It’s amazing the effect a change of head coach can have.

“Me and Clevs played together when I first joined, and he knows me as a player and as a person,” said Pollock, who is still only 23.

“He knows my limits and he’s got me doing what he knows I can do best.

“I’m playing for a manager that has faith and trust in me, and I know if I do make a mistake he’s going to back me.

“He’s given me his full support and going onto the pitch with that confidence is something that has been massive for me.

“I think he’s seen how I can help the team and at the same time has found a way of helping me.

“He has shown trust in me from day one: he put me in the team in his first game at Birmingham and ever since he has put so much belief in me.

“When I go out on the pitch, the faith he has shown in me has given me increased confidence.

“I’m not afraid to take risks because I know I have a manager that backs me.

“Off the pitch he has talked to me so much and shown me so many ideas and put a lot of work in with me.

“He has spent hours with me on the training pitch, and I owe a lot to him.

“The footballing knowledge he has is crazy and I am just trying to sponge off him, like I did when we were playing together.”

Having started every league game, Pollock is fast becoming one of the first names on everyone’s teamsheet.

“In my mind, I haven’t done anything yet. I’ve played 15 games,” he said modestly.

“I’m not going to say I’m one of the first names on the teamsheet.

“I believe I’m playing well but football moves fast and we’ve seen that in previous seasons.

“What I can’t do is lose focus, or lose sight of my ambitions personally and for the club.

“I owe the club, as do all the players. We have to bring the club success.

“For me, I’ve not accomplished anything yet apart from playing 15 games.

“I don’t feel I’ve won enough games yet and we’ve conceded too many goals.

“So others might but I’m not going to say I’m one of the first names on the list.”

What the Hornets have done thus far is contradict what many pundits predicted in the summer, when they were tipped for relegation.

“Something the manager said to us before the season started was that people were sort of against us.

“People always have an opinion in this industry whether you’re good or bad.

“I think it helped us a little bit as we felt we had a point to prove.

“We lost a lot of quality in the summer but we knew we still had quality in the side.

“With the way the manager sets us up and the tactics he uses it allows a lot of players to come out of their shells.

“He’s getting the best out of players and the lads have stepped up.

“We’ve done really well so far but we have to keep it going.

“Where we are is where this club needs to be, and where it should be.

“I’m one of a lot of players who is enjoying it and feels really happy with how it’s going.

“But we’re not resting. We want to get better.

“We want to win more games and be more ruthless.

“People did write us off earlier in the season and we’ve proved them wrong so far, but we have to keep getting the performances right.

“If we’re honest with ourselves, there have been games that we should have got points from but we didn’t.

“We have thrown games away and yet we’re still up there.

“So staying there is definitely something we can do, but we have to apply ourselves and listen to the manager and his staff.

“This is a mad league with mad results, and I can’t sit here and say we’ll definitely stay where we are.

“But if we do what we’ve done and get more things right then we’ll be in a good position.”

The biggest frustration so far has been Watford’s lack of consistency, particularly in away games.

“There are some days when we, as players, are not turning up in games,” Pollock admitted.

“That’s something that’s on us: it’s not the manager or the coaching staff.

“We’ve beaten big teams in other games so as players we have to apply ourselves in every game.

“I don’t think it’s ever been a lack of effort, because every player has grafted in every game.

“But sometimes we haven’t shown our quality or we’ve lacked a finishing touch.

“Sometimes it’s me, sometimes it’s other lads, we’re all guilty of it. We have to become more consistent in our performances.

“We have a lot of technical players and I think maybe sometimes we need to be a bit more rough and make ourselves harder to beat.

“It’s tough to put your finger on what the problem is but we’ve won away games and shown we can do that.

“I am confident the away form will turn if we keep listening to what the coaches tell us.

“Every time we play away from home we must have in the back of our minds that we have to put things right.”

This season has been a complete reversal of the previous campaign, where the Hornets could not win at Vicarage Road.

“It’s weird because when I first came our away form let us down.

“Then last season it was the home form, and now it’s back to the away form.

“It’s something we can, and must, improve.

“We’ve shown we can play well in away games and it’s down to us to do that more often.

“It’s taking more time than any of us want but it’s something we can put right.”

Time is something that Pollock now has, having signed a new contract less than 12 months after being so close to walking out the door.

He said back then he didn’t want to leave, and with his new contract he seems set for a long stay at the club.

“If I hadn’t seen my future as being here at Watford, I wouldn’t have signed the new contract.

“I’ve been here four years, and Watford signed me during a hard time in my career when I’d just been relegated.

“So I owe them, and I like to see myself as an old-school player who shows a bit of loyalty. I definitely see myself being here for a long time.”

Pollock had words of a praise for a teammate who has emerged recently from his own personal tough spell to enjoy a better time.

“Bayo is a class player and a really good lad,” he said.

“I’m buzzing for him. I’ve been here a while and things have been tough for him, and I think he’d admit that.

“Now we’re seeing the form and he’s a very good player.

“Sometimes people take away from him because he doesn't score the goals they think he should.

“But as a player, he is one of the most complete players we have in the team.

“He holds a ball up, he runs, he can pass, and now he’s scoring too. If he can continue then there aren’t many players like him.”

Indeed, Pollock stressed that the mood across the training ground is one of happiness and harmony.

“There is a good feel because we have lads doing well at the club, and also doing well when they go away from the club with their countries.

“I can’t believe how many international players we have – it felt like there was only about four of us in training this week!

“I’m really happy to see the other lads doing well because we have a good group, and we all want to see each other succeed.

“There’s no bad energy in the dressing room and it’s really nice to be part of it.

“It’s nice to see your mates doing well, isn’t it? It makes you feel good to see your mates feeling good.”