Sunderland's upcoming opponents Watford have 'good problems' ahead of weekend clash says Tom Cleverly

Watford boss Tom Cleverley has said he has some ‘good’ selection problems ahead of this Saturday’s clash against Sunderland. The Black Cats make the trip down to Vicarage Road on the back of their 1-0 win over Middlesbrough last time out.

Regis Le Bris’ side have lost only once so far this season and have won five of their first six fixtures. As for their upcoming opponents, they are 8th and a point outside the play-offs with 10 points on the board. The Hornets lost 2-1 away at Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium on Tuesday night in the Carabao Cup. Although they were beaten by Pep Guardiola’s side, they gave a good account of themselves against the Premier League champions.

Speaking after the game, Cleverley said, as per a report by the Watford Observer: “I’ve made nine changes and it’s a performance that’s shown everyone in the squad is ready to step up. It’s been a very settled starting XI in the league at the minute, but the last two performances have been a little bit under par, and those players that want to show the best version of themselves certainly did that tonight. They’ve given me some good problems for the weekend.

“You’ve got no option but to be structured and disciplined when you come to a place like this. You have to be hard-working and value defending your goal. The word we’ve been using is resilient and I think we showed that tonight, and we were disciplined.

“We made it hard for them and when they did break through us by showing their quality we put our bodies on the line. I’m proud of the players tonight. Those were all the things we needed to see in our performance tonight, so I’m pleased.”

He added: “Definitely it does (breed confidence), yes. Belief, but it also reminds us that the basic art of defending will always be important at every level of the game. We just didn’t value it enough against Coventry and Norwich which you could see by the amount of big chances we conceded in those two games.

“In the 90-minute period you’re sort of so engrossed in what’s happening in the game that I just look after what’s happening with my team. But when you strip it back and reflect, this time last year I was managing Watford Under-18s away at Fleetwood Town – and then yeah, it’s a long way that I’ve come in this short space of time. I think every young coach is inspired by Pep and how he has transformed football in this country and how dominant his team has been. It’s an honour for me to be on the touchline next to him.”

Watford made changes for their tie against City and that has given Cleverley some food for thought ahead of Sunderland’s visit. They delved into the transfer window over the summer to bolster their ranks with the signing of players such as Angelo Ogbonna, Moussa Sissoko and Rocco Vata.