Jay DeMerit knows only too well that games like tomorrow’s clash with Manchester United can build confidence or chip away at it, depending on the result and the performance.

The American was at the heart of the Hornets defence when United last visited Vicarage Road for a Premier League clash in August 2006. At the time Aidy Boothroyd’s side were just making their first tentative steps having returned to the top flight. A narrow defeat at Everton on the opening day was followed by a draw at home to West Ham before United came to town and claimed a 2-1 win.

DeMerit features in the fourth volume of the Tales from the Vicarage series in a chapter called Going Up, Staying Up, which looks at Watford’s three previous ‘debut’ seasons among English football’s elite, in 1982/83, 1999/2000 and in 2006/07.

“You gain confidence by giving big performances against big teams,” said DeMerit, who is now living in Canada after ending his playing career with Vancouver Whitecaps. “We played really well against the big teams but we didn’t get the big points. When the fixtures come out you look for all those games – when do we play Man U, Arsenal, Chelsea. We had Man U very early in the season when it was all new to a lot of us.”

United took an early lead that day, then Damien Francis equalised before Ryan Giggs, who will be on the bench as part of Louis Van Gaal’s coaching staff tomorrow, scored what turned out to be the winner early in the second half. DeMerit remembers feeling that an opportunity to cause an upset had slipped away.

“We worked so hard that day and we played well but we didn’t get any points,” he said. “That was the lesson I learned from the Premier League – when you have a chance to close out and get a point, you have to do that because every single point matters. If we had got something against Man U, I think we would have grown from there.”

Watford have enjoyed their best start to a Premier League campaign and their third best start to a top-flight season (in 1982/83 they had 18 points after 12 games, in 1985/86 their tally was 19 at this stage).

But DeMerit says that the change in rhythm between a successful season in the Championship and the first few weeks of the Premier League season takes some adapting to. And, after a fortnight off because of the international break, it’s even more important to hit the ground running.

“In the Championship you play Saturday, Tuesday, Saturday a lot. In the Premier League everything builds up to that game on the weekend and then you have another week to dwell on the result. You have the international break in the Championship too but the matches come so much faster. Coming off the international break, often it’s the team that gets into that rhythm quickest gets the points.

“I think you realise pretty soon that every game requires the same intensity. Players raise their game that extra few per cent because it’s Man U or Chelsea but you soon realise that every game is hard. You look at the fixtures and think, ‘Holy crap, we’ve got these guys next’. The Premier League throws you a huge challenge every week.

“I remember the game at home to Chelsea when we lost to a last-minute Solomon Kalou header. Everyone had played well and done their jobs but we gave them one chance and they scored. Every team has clinical forwards and although we did a good job of learning on the fly, none of us had that top level experience to draw on.”

However, DeMerit believes the current generation of Hornets have what it takes to stay up.

“The key is to stay consistent and pick up points when you can. Sometimes if it’s one-each with ten minutes to go, the smart play is to take your point. So often we played so well to the 80th minute and then gave up the points. The pressure never lets up, you have to concentrate to the very end.”

  • The four books in the Tales from the Vicarage series feature 44 original essays by 18 different writers, including several former Watford Observer journalists. All four volumes are available online at talesfrom.com/watford and The Hornets Shop online and in store at Vicarage Road. There are discounted prices on all the books for a limited period and all four together can be bought for £35.