Gary Rowett believes Watford have come a long way from the side which took Birmingham City "a little bit for granted" and were beaten 2-1 by the Blues in November.

The Hornets' loss at St Andrews was their first under Slavisa Jokanovic. It began a run of four consecutive defeats that led to a minority of supporters questioning whether the Serbian was the right man to lead the Golden Boys’ promotion bid.

Any doubts have been erased over the course of the season and after Watford defeated Birmingham 1-0 on Saturday, Rowett was asked how the Hornets had developed since their last meeting.

“They have changed a lot,” he replied. “I have to say they may have taken us a little bit for granted when we played that first game.

“They made quite a few changes to their side for that game and I think we caught them by surprise and made it a very tough match.

“We did brilliantly to win that night and it started off our good home form. They have come on a long way but it takes time for any manager to implement their style and philosophy.

“You look at them now and they are very solid, although we did cause them a few problems and they had a couple of nervy moments in the back.

“Watford’s forwards players are brilliant and their movement is sublime. That can be very difficult to deal with.”

The Golden Boys are just two victories away from guaranteeing they will play Premier League football next season.

They face Brighton & Hove Albion on Saturday before hosting Sheffield Wednesday on the final day of the campaign.

While Rowett admits it is difficult to predict who will finish in the top two he does believe Watford and Bournemouth have favourable fixtures.

“I think it will go down to the last game of the season,” Rowett says. “The one thing I would say is I have looked at Bournemouth and Watford’s run ins and they have got winnable games.

“I still think there will be one or two more twists to it. There was a last minute goal for Sheffield Wednesday today (Saturday) which changed the complexity of the top of the table.

“I would love to be fighting for those positions but at the moment it is quite a treat to be watching those teams fighting it out.

“The Middlesbrough Norwich game was fantastic and I thought Watford showed real desire today to win.

“All we can try and do is live with those sides and put in performances that leave you proud as a manager.”