Tom Cleverley is confident his unbeaten Watford side can “hurt” Stoke City – but admits to having been surprised by Saturday’s Championship opponents (3pm kick-off).
The Hornets have won both of their matches so far this term – against Millwall in the league last week and then MK Dons in the Carabao Cup in midweek.
It means he will face some tough selection issues ahead of taking on Stoke at Vicarage Road, but is happy to be in that situation.
“That’s what winners and winning environments are about. Okay, I want the players to feel a sense of reward from the first two performances, but I don’t want them to feel a sense of celebration,” said the former Manchester United player. “It’s now about focusing really hard on Stoke.”
The Potters are also undefeated after two games, beating a decent Coventry City side 1-0 at the bet365 Stadium last Saturday before a 2-0 victory at Carlisle United in the Carabao Cup.
Cleverley, who has been head coach at Vicarage Road since April after a month in the post on an interim basis, has been impressed by Stoke.
He added: “It’s certainly not the Stoke that I remember playing as a player. They play quite an expansive style of football and they’ve got exciting players at the top end of the pitch.
“They are high in confidence and we expect a really tough test. It’s a different challenge, with respect to MK Dons. But if we continue to do the basics as well as we are, I feel like we’ve got the ability in our squad to really hurt teams.”
The good news for Stoke is that Watford have not won three games in a row since beating Luton Town, Wigan and Cardiff City in October and November 2022, but Cleverley is aiming high.
“In this job you never really get a chance to have a sense of achievement,” he told the Watford FC website in anticipation of a run of games against Derby (league, August 24) and Plymouth (Carabao Cup, August 26) following the Stoke clash.
“If we win it would be ‘now I want four’. That’s just the nature of this job. But my focus is all on Stoke, and if Stoke is positive then my focus will turn straight to Derby.”
