Sebastian Prodl believes a battling point on the road against Stoke City can build the foundations for Watford’s survival bid.

A goalless stalemate saw the Hornets take a share of the spoils from the Bet365 Stadium after a physical encounter with their fellow relegation candidates.

The Hornets were stubborn rather than stylish as they restricted their hosts while creating precious little themselves, but Prodl says a more structured approach will form the backbone of a return to form.

“We are all aware of the situation at the moment and that it is pivotal to make points, especially against teams that are close in the table,” Prodl said.

“It is a good thing to go back to basics, to get points on the board, get confidence back and believe in ourselves again. If this works out why shouldn’t we improve?”

The draw saw Javi Gracia pick up a point on his maiden outing in the Premier League and Watford partially bounce back from Saturday’s drab 1-0 FA Cup loss to Southampton.

Neither side truly did enough to claim they deserved to take all three points as both struggled to create clear cut openings.

Nonetheless, Prodl hailed a point which he felt the Hornets were fully deserving of, while accepting they could have done more going forward.

“I think it was a deserved point and a more important point for us. We went back to basics a little bit today managed the game well,” he said.

“They had a couple of chances, only one good one and if we managed to create more chances we could have won the game.

“That was the only criticism you could have I think. We have to be more clinical in the box and when we get the chances to counter attack.”

Coming in the middle of the season, Marco Silva’s departure from Vicarage Road was hardly ideally timed.

Prodl, though, feels Gracia has the quality to inspire Watford for the remainder of the season and is eager to harness to positivity created from Wednesday’s points.

“Gracia knows the situation. It is going to be a big competition for the next 13 games,” he said.

“He is well known for good organisation and that is why they brought him in. He used to manage teams very well defensively and beat big teams with his former clubs.

“We have just spoken in the dressing room straight after the game when we are still emotional and that is what you should do.

“You can win or you can lose these games, but if you feel you did everything and everyone fought that is all we can do at the moment. That will get us going.”