JAY DeMerit insists tomorrow's (Tuesday) clash with Colchester United at Layer Road will be all about what the Hornets can offer on the field as Watford look to get back to winning ways.

The Golden Boys have won once in their last six games and with a lead at the top of the pile that's been cut to just one point, now is the time to return to form.

The U's have won once since the two sides met last month, but the form guide goes out of the window to a certain extent. The Hornets will ignore these stats especially after the last ditch strike by a Bristol City side who hadn't won for five games before coming to the Vic on Saturday.

With seven games in December, and the possibility of 21 points, there will be no better way to start the next cycle of games in January than with a comfortable gap at the right end of the Championship.

Defender DeMerit certainly isn't one to check out the fixtures as one long list. He said: "I try not to look at the season as a whole, I prefer to look at it in stages.

"If you look at it as a whole it can be quite daunting, now we're starting this stage and we'll get to Christmas and re-assess. That's how I prefer to do it.

"We had a great start, but we're having a little bit of a blip at the moment. I think right now is the most important time for us.

"If we can get through Christmas on a good run picking up three points per game, that will set us up for the months ahead and promotion - which is our aim for this season."
 
The U's are in their final season at Layer Road and this will be the last league game the Hornets will ever play at the old ground.

DeMerit missed the return clash at Vicarage Road under a month ago but remembers what Geraint Williams' side had to offer.

"I was in the stands when we played a few weeks ago. They're a good, hard-working side and they did well to disrupt our rhythm. But again I thought that was another game where we had enough chances to win.

"Our away form has been good this year. We go into every game with the same mentality, but for some reason, maybe we relax more away because we don't have as much pressure?  But you need to have that home pressure because winning at home is what it's all about. If you keep a good home record you set yourself a good standard, however we've let that slip lately and we need to get back to winning ways at home."

The American centre half has returned to the side for the past two home games after a period on the sidelines with a calf strain. His presence at the back is a welcomed boost but as he explains it take a bit of time to slot back in.

"You never want to get injured but I'd had some knocks on my calf earlier in the season. A kick really that never healed properly, I had a lot of scar tissue within the muscle and that was the reason behind it.

"My muscle wasn't working properly so in turn that made other muscles work harder and I ended up pulling my calf.

"I'm back now so it's just a matter of trying to find my feet and trying to find the form before I got injured.

"It's never that easy to slot straight back in after a few weeks out. You lose a bit of fitness, there's a timing issue with your other defenders as well, so it's not an easy thing."

The defender from the States was rested towards the end of the last campaign due to his grueling international schedule during the summer. After his enforced period on the sidelines recently, how is he feeling at this stage in the season?

"As far as the battery goes, I'm fine. I love playing football every day for a living. As for getting 'burnt out' I don't know what it feels like yet and hopefully I'll never experience it. But if I ever do get 'burnt out', then I'll definitely tell the manager about it. But until that happens I'm certainly not worried."

The injuries appear to have cleared up for the Hornets with boss Aidy Boothroyd welcoming back Damien Francis, Mart Poom and Jobi McAnuff as well as DeMerit in recent games.

Boothroyd has competition for places with players leaving the treatment room, goal scoring substitute John-Joe O'Toole must have given the gaffer some food for thought with his threat from the centre of the park.   

Damien Francis was rested as a precaution on Saturday but the ex-Wigan midfielder will want to continue his journey towards full fitness. Apart from that the Yorkshire man has a fully fit squad with no fresh injuries. 

After five straight wins in October, November proved a tougher test for the Golden Boys with just four points collected, including one against our opponents tomorrow.

DeMerit has had a viewpoint from the stands as well as the heart of defence and like the manager, is keeping a calm head.

"I think it's a combination of things, you can't blame one factor. We were getting very consistent but now we're starting to slip a little bit. At the back we're starting to let in some cheap and sloppy goals and upfront we're not finishing like we were at the start of the season.

"You take those things into consideration and if we can correct them then we'll be right back to where we were. Our work ethic and our foundations, as far as the way we play, are always going to be there but it's just being clinical at both ends."

Finally, as is always the case at Watford, DeMerit has an inner confident and believes in what everyone at the club is trying to achieve. 

"Its always about us, we say that time and time again, if we concentrate on what we have to do and do our jobs then we should win against any team in this division. I think that's out main focus for Colchester and the future - get back to what we're used to, do our jobs and get back to winning ways."

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