Watford boss Quique Sanchez Flores believes the current season is one of the most important in the club’s history.

Under the guidance of the Spanish head coach, Watford have exceeded expectations in the Premier League to sit well clear of the relegation zone and have reached the FA Cup semi-final for the sixth time.

Both are remarkable achievements but safety has yet to be secured in the top flight.

The Hornets are close and could reach 40 points, the total often deemed enough to ensure survival, with victory over Stoke City on Saturday.

“I realise that everyone is happy and they are happy because we are living something special together,” Flores said ahead of the clash at Vicarage Road.

“That is why I am a coach. I like to go to clubs where I can make the fans and the players happy. The feeling I have here, I can’t compare it to anything.

“In Watford’s history they have had a lot of good seasons for many different reasons.

"But this season is one of the most important in the club’s history.

"It has given us the possibility to establish ourselves in the Premier League. That would be incredible for Watford and the fans deserve it.

“This place is amazing. We can do something really special in the future. We have the right director (Hornets owner Gino Pozzo) of the project too. He has ambition that the fans want. We can do something really, really big.”

There is certainly an argument to be made that Watford have already done that this season.

Their victory over Arsenal in the FA Cup quarter final on Sunday was the highlight of what has been an impressive campaign.

But, after such a highly emotional win, is there a chance the Hornets will find it difficult to motivate themselves against Stoke?

Flores doesn’t believe that will be an issue.

“After this sort of match it is important the players enjoy the experience and the victory,” the Spaniard said.

“After that, with a cool mind, it is important to come back to reality. Our situation is we are playing against a very strong team this weekend.

“We have to show the same energy we showed against Arsenal at Vicarage Road this weekend if we want to get a good result.”

Flores added: “Our mentality should be to be competitive and improve in every game. We always have to improve our performances.

“We go on to the pitch with the idea of playing better than we did the last match. That is always our target.

"I don’t know how many points we need to stay up, but we just want to win as many as we can until the end of the season.”

It has taken some time for Watford’s, and Flores’, achievements this season to get the recognition they deserve but it appears the Arsenal victory was a turning point.

Flores admitted he received several messages and calls of congratulations from friends, people in the media and former teammates after the game.

And then, on Wednesday, his phone rang again.

“It was Manolo Sanchís, he is a former player of Real Madrid,” the Hornets boss explained.

“He is the player who played most matches in the history of Real Madrid.

“He was my teammate at Madrid for two years and for four years in the national team.

"He called me, and he is an institution at Real Madrid, and said he wants Watford Under-16s to come and play in his tournament in July.

“I said ‘Manolo that is amazing’. He wants to come to England and get to know Watford. He wants them to come [and play in his tournament]. For me that is very important, we are expanding the identity of Watford.”