HORNETS boss Malky Mackay told www.watfordfc.com that he was expecting tonight's (Tuesday) encounter with Championship rivals QPR to be anything short of an easy task.
"I expect a reaction from Mick Halford's side after they lost 1-0 at Coventry last weekend.
"We've never had it easy at Loftus Road, so it will be a tough game and certainly the crowd can get behind their team there and make it a tough place to go.
"You can look at tonight's game in two ways - it could be a great time to go there but on the other hand you could say that they could draw up their drawbridge and defend their castle.
"QPR is certainly a different type of club, there's not a lot of stability in terms of the time that managers are in the role, but Mick knows the place and knows football.
"Stability is something we are trying to get back at our own club now and I think we are gradually getting there.
"We need to make sure we go there and have the right attitude and the performance level that we showed against Barnsley but hope that things go your way at the same time."
Watford will come across a few familiar faces in west London later, most notably that of former 'Orns striker Tamas Priskin, who is currently on loan at the Hoops from Ipswich Town.
"He's got a love of football and has settled into English football very well, found his feet and adapted well to life over here.
"It took him time to believe that he was going to be a threat in this division but there is still a lot of development in him - we sold him because we had to and because his contract would have run out. But, we got a good deal with him and I was delighted with that.
"It was realistic at the time with the amount of goals he was scoring, goal-scoring centre forwards in this division are at a premium but since then unfortunately things haven't gone as well for him so he's moved on to QPR.
"It will be good to see him again and I'll give him a bit of nudge when I see him in the tunnel!"
Malky went on to reveal that despite recent disappointing results away from home, the players have not been disheartened.
"I think the players are like me in the fact they are realistic" said the manager.
"They know when they perform well and when they don't.
"At Barnsley, they put in a performance that probably merited something from the game, but on the other hand, they knew the standards they set at Blackpool weren't good enough.
"Come last week, they realised how close they were to getting a result at Oakwell and as I say, I'm looking for more of the same tonight.
"They took the Barnsley defeat in their stride and bounced back against a tough Bristol team with a great result.
"To be honest, I don't see anything fazing them; it's just a little rub of the green now and again, sometimes it goes for you and sometimes it goes against you and I think that's all we're missing away from home."
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