Garner: “I Want To Help The Team”

New loan signing James Garner is looking to throw himself into the firepit of the Championship and emulate the stunning form he has shown for Manchester United’s academy teams.

The 19-year-old was named the Red Devils’ Under-23 Player of the Year last season and has made seven first-team appearances, but is now ready for a full season of senior football at Vicarage Road.

“I watched Watford a lot last year in the Premier League and they’re a top club and they’ve got some top players, so it was a pretty easy decision for me to make,” said the midfielder.

“I feel like the Championship is a lot more physical and a lot more aggressive than the Premier League and the Europa League and all the games that I’ve played in, but I feel like that’s just something I’ve got to adapt to.

“With the team that we’ve got and the way that the manager wants us to play, I feel like we can definitely [achieve promotion].”

Garner is a versatile midfielder and has recently discovered the goalscoring side to his game, having bagged eight goals in 10 Premier League 2 appearances last campaign.

“The year before last, if you had asked me what I was about I’d say I was more defensive, I read the game, I don’t think anyone had really seen that side to me, as in goals and assists,” he said.

“I really made sure that in pre-season I was working hard on scoring goals and I think that’s really shown with the season I’ve just had. I can do the defensive work and I can do the attacking work, so I just really wanted to show everyone that I can do both jobs.

“I’ve got a real calmness about me on the ball and I think the manager wants us to play, so if we can pass it out from the back, we can really impose ourselves on teams.

“I want to score goals, I want to assist, I want to help the team and as a collective we want to push for promotion.”

Coming from a prestigious set-up at Old Trafford, Garner has been learning from the likes of first-team coach Michael Carrick as well as the current crop of midfielders at the club.

“He [Carrick] is a top player and with him being in the coaching staff and me being in and around the first team every day, he helped me a lot,” said Garner.

“The players that were there as well, the midfielders like Paul [Pogba], there’s some top players there so they really helped me.”

Watford’s Tom Cleverley, Ben Foster and Craig Cathcart are all familiar with the Manchester United academy themselves and have already taken the youngster under their collective wing.

“I’ve spoken to them all in the dressing room and they’re all top lads,” he said. “They’re all speaking to me and helping me and asking questions. When I first came, they were the lads who first came over to me, so that was good.”