Troy Deeney says Watford have continued to prove the doubters wrong this season because the Hornets’ squad contains “characters, lads with experience and a set of nuts”.

At the start of the campaign the Golden Boys were written off by experts and pundits alike.

They’d signed too many players and had a new head coach who hadn’t worked in England before. A recipe for disaster, apparently.

But since that opening day 2-2 draw at Everton those statements have proven to be pure folly.

Watford have thrived under Quique Sanchez Flores’ guidance. They are almost safe in the Premier League and yesterday clinched a place in the FA Cup semi-final at Wembley after defeating Arsenal 2-1 at the Emirates Stadium.

And to Hornets skipper Deeney, Watford's success this season has come as no surprise.

“We’ve got a good group and I don’t think there is any team in the country that can look around and say they’ve got 25 players who all graft whether they’re in the team or out the team,” he said.

“Within the dressing room we’ve got enough characters, enough lads with experience and a set of nuts as well. We’re not worried what anyone says outside the club."

The striker continued: “We changed manager and signed 16 new players. We were written off. But he (Flores) has done a fantastic job.

“They guys (the local press) who follow us every week view it from a great stand point and know the job he’s done.

“If it wasn’t for Leicester everyone would be saying what a great first season the gaffer has had, but they deserve the accolades they are getting.”

But what makes Flores so special?

“He is just a nice guy,” Deeney replied. “He treats everyone with respect but he is demanding. He isn’t a pushover.

"We’ve had managers in the past that were real nice guys but when it came to crunch time they perhaps wouldn’t make the tough decisions.

“Today he has brought in Adlene (Guedioura) and he gets a goal. It looks a masterstroke.

"He dropped me a few weeks ago but I got back into the team and scored two in the next game. So we know that nobody is safe from being dropped.”

Watford’s victory over Arsenal was arguably the highlight of what has been an excellent season for the club.

Deeney created both goals in the win and demonstrated once again why he is so invaluable to the Hornets side.

He is a physical presence, a battering ram. But his ability on the ball is often overlooked. His passing, in particular, at the Emirates was exceptional.

The 27-year-old is also the perfect club captain. It would’ve been easy for a player to overlook the impact of the travelling supporters but Deeney was full of praise for the 8,325 Watford fans who made the short journey to north London.

“They were quality,” he said. “Having almost 9,000 of them is fantastic. It was like at Manchester United but louder.

“They got a bit nervy towards the end but that is to be expected. But I think we’ve just got to take a step back and appreciate how good a season this has been so far.

“We’ve still got nine Premier League games left and a day out at Wembley which can be for the fans. We’ve still got a lot of work to do.”

He added: “We’re not safe until we see three teams with the R next to their name in the table.

“We will not change emphasis and think ‘right, we’re at Wembley now and we’ve got to win that game’.

“Every match is massive. We’ve got Stoke next weekend and they’re playing well. So we’ve got to recover and go again.”