By his own admission Watford head coach Quique Sanchez Flores has stood on the touchline in some of Europe’s most famous stadiums. Yet tonight will be his first trip to Manchester United’s Old Trafford.

“It’s a historic stadium,” said the Spaniard ahead of the Hornets’ game with the Red Devils this evening.

“I have coached in some amazing stadiums in Spain and in other countries and when I came to England I knew Stamford Bridge, Anfield and the Emirates from the past.

“But I have never been to Old Trafford. I am looking forward to it. It is historic for excellence.”

That last sentence may not be perfect English but you understand Flores’ sentiment.

For years and years under Sir Alex Ferguson United’s home ground was a fortress.

Many an opposition side would simply come to keep the score down rather than try to win the match.

But since the Scot retired in the summer of 2013, United’s aura of invincibility has taken a bit of a battering.

This season, for instance, the Red Devils have failed to score in five of their 13 home league games.

It is partly why Louis van Gaal’s side have struggled. They sit a disappointing fifth in the table and are only seven points ahead of the Hornets.

Flores admits United’s season has fallen short of the club’s expectations.

He said: “I am sure Manchester United anticipated having a better season. They have high expectations and have very good players.

“I am sure they expected to fight for the Premier League title in this moment and they are far from achieving that objective.

“But I respect Louis van Gaal a lot. I have followed him since he started as a coach at Ajax. He is a very serious man who takes a lot of responsibility in his profession.

“Manchester United have a very good manager but results are results. I can’t talk about how he is managing the team.”

What van Gaal has seemingly done in recent matches, however, is let his players perform with greater freedom.

It has paid off with United scoring 11 goals in their last three games, although wins over Shrewsbury Town and Midtjylland came during that sequence.

“They’ve changed their style little bit,” Flores said. “They are playing less passes and are putting more crosses into the box.

“Of course they want to keep the ball, they have the most possession of any team in the Premier League.

“But in the last month they have more passes forward rather than passes to the side. They are more vertical in their approach. They create more attempts, put more players in the box and are having more chances.”

During the course of the campaign Watford have proven more than a match for the top sides of the Premier League, even though they haven’t necessarily ended with the points they deserved.

So when Flores was asked if he felt his players would be overawed by the experience of playing at Old Trafford, he quickly dismissed the notion.

“We are a new team who’ve been playing together for six months but we have a lot of players with a lot of experience,” he said.

“So it isn’t a surprise. They will not be afraid or worried going to Old Trafford. We have already played in amazing stadiums like Stamford Bridge, Newcastle, stadiums with 50,000 people.

“It hasn’t been a problem for the team. We are ready to show everyone we can play in these conditions.”