When the forward players don’t fire, or if the defence concede goals, there is no blame game within the Watford dressing room.

The 0-0 draw with QPR was the first time the Hornets have failed to score at Vicarage Road since the goalless draw with Hull on April 20.

Down the other end of the pitch, the defence kept their fourth successive home clean sheet.

But Cleverley made it clear that his squad succeed and fail as one unit.

“I said to the players that we are all pulling in the same direction,” he stressed.

“It’s not a case of ‘you’ve scored, but you’ve not stopped it going in’.

“Today, pat on the back for the defenders and goalkeeper for another clean sheet.

“But we stick together as a team and don’t start pointing fingers at our strikers.

“We are going to have frustrating days because it is a long old season and we have big ambitions.

“I want to keep striving for those.”

The last two home games were, in the main, not the best moment so far of the campaign at Vicarage Road.

“No it certainly wasn’t, but to take four points shows good resilience and character,” Cleverley pointed out.

“I think you can split both games into games of two halves, where we’ve been extremely flat in both first halves, and then come on strong with that will to win and willingness to take risks.

“It’s about us getting to the bottom of why we are a bit flatter and striving for the complete performance.”

The closest Watford came to claiming the three points was when Imran Louza’s excellent free-kick somehow stayed out after coming down off the crossbar.

“Both teams hit the woodwork in the second half, and that makes it feel more of an entertaining 0-0 than a bore draw,” Cleverley said.

“Imran has that quality to find the key pass, or land the ball on a sixpence, or hit the postage stamp with a free kick.

“He has that quality and I thought he was good again today, and he was unlucky with that strike.”