Six of the Hornets’ summer signings all featured in the 2-2 pre-season friendly draw against Shrewsbury Town. Sports reporter Adam Newson takes a look at how each of them got on at Greenhous Meadow.

Heurelho Gomes

He dealt well with a couple of early Shrewsbury crosses and was quickly off his line on several occasions.

Failed to punch a cross cleanly midway through the half and seemed to pick up a small knock. However, he continued and wasn’t really troubled.

Apart from one shot which narrowly missed his left post from Jean-Louis Akpa-Akpro, he looked relatively comfortable before being brought off at half-time.

Craig Cathcart

He was looking to get on the ball regularly but misplaced a pass early. However, he did well to break up the resulting attack.

He was well positioned to block a dangerous Shrewsbury cross later in the game and was solid, but didn’t stand out.

Cathcart was brought off in the 36th minute, seemingly due to injury, for fellow new signing Gabriel Tamas.

Gabriel Tamas

Tamas quickly showed neat touches in addition to a well directed pass forward to Troy Deeney.

Positioned himself in the right place to halt a couple of Shrewsbury attacks before the half time interval.

The Romanian international was a vocal presence throughout the second period and organised the back four.

Was caught out on a couple of occasions when he committed himself to a tackle but made one crucial block to halt Akpa-Akpro who had broken into the area.

Was frustrated to concede Shrewsbury’s first goal after trying to play offside and let the assistant referee know his thoughts about the close offside decision in the build-up.

Was caught out of position for the Shrews’ equaliser but, on the whole, it was an encouraging display.

Daniel Tozser

Patrolled in front of the back four early on and was usually available to collect the ball off the centre-backs and build attacks.

Attempted several diagonal passes which were aimed at getting Matej Vydra in behind the Shrews’ defence but the majority were slightly over-hit and went out of play.

Only two starters played the full 90 minutes and Tozser was one of them. He delivered the free-kick which led to the Hornets' second goal, an out-swinging cross to the back-post which Tommie Hoban dispatched in the 47th minute.

The midfielder faded as the game progressed, perhaps due to a lack of fitness as he started pre-season training a week later than the rest of the Hornets squad.

Lloyd Dyer

Attempted to get in behind the Shrewsbury defence early on and showed experience to cover Lloyd Doyley when the full-back went forward.

With the majority of Watford attacks coming down the left flank, he drifted inside as the first half progressed and made a couple of incisive runs. However, he struggled to make a real impact.

Brought off at half time.

Matej Vydra

Looked lost on the flanks for the first 15 minutes and barely touched the ball. Switched places with Deeney and made an immediate impact up front, ironically when pulling slightly wide. 

He nipped past Jermaine Grandison and found Troy Deeney who laid the ball to Cristian Battocchio who finished well.

Despite the immediate contribution, he was moved back to the left wing and his lack of defensive responsibility was evident on numerous occasions as he allowed Grandison plenty of room when the full back pushed forward.

Brought off at half time.