Tom Cleverley spoke to watfordfc.com ahead of the Hornets' Sky Bet Championship clash with Hull City at Vicarage Road on Saturday (April 20, 3pm KO).
Read what the Interim Head Coach had to say below...
On recovering from the Southampton result:
With the players having two days off after the Southampton game, which was pre-planned, it let us digest what happened in that game and get over it.
Tuesday was a new week and the players have been bright and fresh. It’s been the first time since Leeds that we’ve had a real period of time to prepare for an opposition, and I think we’ve done a good job with that.
On the challenge Hull City pose:
We meet yet another team who have motivation of their own to play for. It will be a good game with two good teams, and we’re planning and preparing that it will be us who comes out on top.
They are a team full of very technical players. They’ve got [Fábio] Carvalho, the experience of Ozan Tufan, who we know well, and [Jacob] Greaves is in the Championship team of the year.
They are a very technical team with a little bit of experience sprinkled over it. They’ve got a good mix, so we’ve done a lot of work on them and a lot of prep for them. We've presented that to the players and we know exactly what we’re going to come up against.
I don’t expect Hull to come and sit in mid-block and be happy for a draw. They’ve got their own agenda. They are a very total football team, but they are not tiki-taka with no purpose, they are good at what they do and they have a lot of intent with it. I expect a difficult test.
On another game against a side challenging for promotion:
I prefer playing the teams who I see us competing with next year for places, and they are one of those. They are very well coached, like all of the teams we have faced recently.
They have a clear style of play and Liam [Rosenior] has done a great job in his early managerial career.
I’m expecting a good test but I think we have the tools to overcome it.
On Jeremy Ngakia and Ken Sema returning to training:
I’ve been very, very pleased with their return.
Both looked fit and dynamic and added something different to the group, and it’s two great personalities back in the group.
I fully expect them to be in the matchday squad.
On Tom Dele-Bashiru going off at half-time against Southampton:
With Tom Dele, a bit like [Emmanuel] Dennis now, we’ll have to manage him until the end of the season.
We plan on not losing him for any games but we’ll have to manage his training loads.
On Ryan Andrews and different options for the defence:
Ryan was a doubt last weekend which meant he couldn't start, which meant a change in shape.
It’s something we’re flexible with. If we don’t have wing-backs available we can go to a four.
But Ryan’s back to full health now and he’s available to start.
On what a home win would mean:
I think it would be as special as it gets for me.
That would include the Man Utd win, the late Arsenal win, the promotion against Millwall...
Tomorrow would be right up there with my favourite Vicarage Road moments if we could get that win.
On getting over the line at Vicarage Road:
I feel like we’re gaining that belief back that we can be in amongst it next season.
We’re all massively motivated to do that [win at home], players and staff, and we’ll be giving absolutely everything to do that tomorrow.
It’s my job to change routines, change the mindset and change mentality.
I feel like that is starting to swing around the other way.
We’re entering each game with the mentality of a top team in this division, with a belief we can go out there and win. We’ve played first, third, fourth and fifth and tomorrow it's seventh.
We’re not only competing but we’re trying to be superior in these games. We’ll approach tomorrow with the same mentality and that gives us the best chance of getting that home win.
