Ben Foster says Watford’s focus will be firmly on footballing matters when they come up against former Hornets head coach Marco Silva at Goodison Park.

Silva left Watford in controversial circumstances in January, with the Vicarage Road club filing a complaint claiming the Toffees had tapped up the Portuguese boss.

The dispute has fostered an unlikely rivalry between the two clubs and Silva can expect plenty of attention from Watford fans travelling to Goodison Park on Monday.

Foster may not have been at the club last season, but he is fully aware of the manner of Silva’s departure and understands it adds to the narrative surrounding Monday’s game.

The Watford keeper insists off field matters will have no impact on the manner in which Watford approach the game.

“I am sure it will have an impact from the club’s point of view in general,” Foster said. “But it is not something me personally or any of the players out on the pitch on Monday night will be thinking too much about.

“We will just be focusing on the job as usual, go about the game as we normally do and try to get the three points and hopefully we can put on a good display.”

Watford go into Monday’s game in search of a much-needed victory after a run of five games on the spin without a win.

Their run of poor form has been underpinned by some wasteful finishing which has seen some good performances go unrewarded.

Everton, in contrast, have lost just once in their last five games, a dramatic 1-0 defeat at Liverpool on Saturday, and sit sixth in the table ahead of kick-off.

Watford can go level on points with their hosts with a win on Merseyside on Monday night.