Tomorrow's visit to St Mary's provides the perfect chance for reflection for Watford boss Javi Gracia after 11 months at the Vicarage Road helm.

Southampton's home was the venue for Gracia's maiden outing in the Watford dug out on what proved to be a sorry afternoon on the south coast.

A solitary Jack Stephens strike was enough to send the Hornets crashing out of the FA Cup and the day ended with Jose Holebas and Christian Kabasele engaged in heated words with the travelling support. An inauspicious start indeed for Gracia.

Fast forward to November, and Watford sit eighth in the table with Gracia set to put pen to paper on a new three-year contract.

The Saints by contrast are out of form and flirting with the Premier League relegation zone ahead of Watford's arrival.

Cleaning up the mess left by Marco Silva's ill-fated Watford reign has been no easy task for Gracia, but he believes the Hornets are a much-changed side since his debut defeat.

"I was in the beginning of my time and trying to find solutions to a lot of problems, we had a lot of players out injured and in a difficult moment with the previous results," Gracia said.

"It was my first game here and we had different coaches, different players and it was a different competition.

"I arrived and had to try and change that and it was normal that the supporters were angry after losing many games. I tried to understand the different points of view and change the dynamic. The best way to do that is to get results."

Despite losing 1-0 against Newcastle United last time out Watford will be favourites to come out on top against a Saints side with a dismal home record.

Indeed, their success over Watford is one of only two home wins in all competitions Mark Hughes' men have enjoyed this calendar year.

Watford know from the loss at United - a result which gave the Magpies their first league win this season - that such records mean little come kick-off.

Gracia insists, though, that the spectre of defeat won't add any pressure for his side at St Mary's.

He said: "These records happen many times, it is not special. We always feel the pressure to win.

"We do not need to know if the team we are going to play has been winning or not and we do not need external pressures to win.

"We will keep our level and respect the opponents and this will give us the chances to win."