ADRIAN Mariappa normally keeps things close to his chest, but when asked about his captain's armband, the hardworking defender isn't afraid to say how he feels.

"It's a great honour to be captain for Watford as I've come through the ranks here and captained the youth team.

"To be the captain of the first team is massive for me and a great privilege; I always strive to do my best in that role."

Mariappa puts his development in recent times down to his manager, a former Hornets defender himself.

"I've got a lot to be grateful for with Malky, he's given everyone that belief that we are good players and now we're showing that on the pitch and in our results.

"Malky has shown great faith in all the players here, considering a lot of the squad are young and he's shown them that faith and support and said just go and play."

Mariappa: "I've got a lot to be grateful for with Malky"

With three consecutive home wins under their belt in the last month, Malky's men are currently on a very successful trip up the Championship table.

"I thought when the season started, everyone had written us off straight away" said the Watford-born player "but we were always quietly confident in ourselves.

"We've gone about our business and that's how we will continue to take it and get results. Then you never know what might happen.

"We're just taking it game by game - that's the best thing we can do.

"We know that we're not expected to win the league, but we're confident in ourselves and we're a very good group of players, so we just need to keep doing what we're doing at the moment - it seems to work!"

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