Watford goalkeeper Ben Foster may have gained most of the praise for helping to keep Huddersfield Town at bay but another calm and assured display from Adrian Mariappa also played its part in the Hornets keeping back-to-back clean sheets in Saturday’s 3-0 win.

Not for the first occasion since returning to Vicarage Road, the 32-year-old had to wait for his opportunity to make a Premier League start this season.

Christian Kabasele’s suspension afforded Mariappa his chance at Wolverhampton Wanderers and having contributed positively to an impressive team defensive display in the 2-0 victory, the former Reading and Crystal Palace defender retained his place in the starting XI as Watford won again to reach their highest points total after the first 10 games of a top-flight season.

Mariappa once again skippered the Hornets in the absence of the injured Troy Deeney and Javi Gracia praised his professionalism and approach.

The Hornets boss said: “He’s one of the captains, he’s always an example for the rest of the players and he’s always ready.

“You can tell him ‘you are going to play right-back, you are going to play centre back, you are going to be play left-back’ and he’s always ready and always with a smile on his face.

“He’s always trying to do his best and trying to help everybody and for me it’s a pleasure to have players like Mariappa.”