Wesley Hoedt spoke to watfordfc.com following Saturday’s thrilling 5-0 win over Rotherham United (November 11), with the Hornets heading into the latest international break on the back of a six-game unbeaten run.
A first-half Mileta Rajović brace put the Hornets in control at Vicarage Road, before Edo Kayembe notched his first for the club and subs Tom Ince and Matheus Martins added gloss to the scoreline late on.
Central defender Hoedt took on the captaincy in Daniel Bachmann’s absence and completed the full 90 minutes alongside Ryan Porteous, helping earn a fourth clean sheet in five games.
Read Hoedt’s thoughts below…
It was a well-executed game. We had a plan and we stuck to it, so I think it was a well-deserved win. We’re up there for clean sheets, and it was good to get another one today. I think we’ve been solid all season – I think we had one bad week which contributed a lot of the goals that we’ve conceded, but apart from that we’ve been good at the back.
Jake Livermore has been crucial to us becoming more solid. Having him sitting in the number six position – in front of the defence – means we can organise more easily. I think the last time we conceded from open play was against Sunderland, which is a good feeling.
It was a great afternoon for Mileta [Rajović] – it should give him confidence and help him score even more goals going forward. He scored two goals today and did his job, so very well done to him. I think he’s improving a lot and he’s got six goals this season now, so credit to him and the other strikers who are all working really hard to help the team.
All three of our centre-forwards [Rajović, Rhys Healey and Vakoun Bayo] are at a good level, and it was good to see Healey get some minutes as well. They all keep each other sharp, and they all know there’s strong competition and that they have to be on their game when they’re given a chance.
I think the club made the decision in the summer to point towards being more of a group than being about individuals. That’s a difficult decision to make because everyone expects top, top players at Watford, and it was a tough task for the gaffer to completely switch the attitude.
Slowly and progressively, we’re getting there. After we lost the three games in September and October we put our heads together, and our hard work is paying off now. We’ve had a good block [between international breaks] and gone six unbeaten. We need to have a few days off, recharge, and then we’ll come back and work towards another difficult block.
I think we all want to play in the Premier League. I think Leicester still have a Premier League team, and they’re our next opponents (Saturday November 25, 3pm KO) so it will be a great test for us. It’s up to us to show that we’ve made real progress, and to keep climbing the league table.
